[CTC] Harper's Magazine on TPP

[Adam Weissman]

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/economy/business/AJ201304030139
Japan reaches basic agreement with U.S., will join TPP talks in July







Tokyo and Washington have reached a basic agreement during preliminary  
talks on Japan's participation in the negotiations for the proposed  
Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade arrangement, a senior Japanese  
government official said.

U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to soon notify Congress to win  
its approval. Japan will likely be allowed to formally join the TPP  
talks as early as July.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe confirmed with Obama during a summit in  
February that the elimination of all tariffs without exception will  
not be a prerequisite for Japan's participation in the talks. Abe  
formally announced his will to join the talks in March.

Congressional approval before Japan's entering the trade talks will  
take 90 days. For that reason, Japan had to reach an agreement by the  
end of April if it wanted to join a TPP negotiation session that could  
be held as early as July.

Tokyo was eager to rush an agreement with Washington out of fear that  
discussions on creating TPP rules would proceed without Japan if Japan  
was late in coming.

During the preliminary talks, Washington called for Tokyo's  
concessions, primarily in the automotive sector, as a precondition for  
approving Japan's participation. More specifically, Washington  
demanded to continue, for the time being, with its current tariffs on  
imported Japanese vehicles. Tokyo accepted that demand.

The U.S. side also demanded that Japan expand its "preferential  
handling procedure for imported motor vehicles," which simplifies  
safety inspections for imported U.S. vehicle models with annual sales  
of up to 2,000 units. Japan also accepted that demand.

Both sides also engaged in the final negotiations on other fronts from  
late March.

Most of the current parties to the TPP talks have approved Japan's  
participation. Australia and New Zealand have yet to approve it, so  
much depends on what those countries will have to say.

But considering the United States' huge say in the talks, the basic  
agreement in the preliminary bilateral talks with Washington has  
virtually set the stage for Japan's entry into the multilateral talks.

The Cabinet is expected to decide April 5 to set up an organization  
dedicated to the TPP talks. The government is expected to negotiate  
with other countries, while dealing with farmers' associations and  
other TPP opponents in Japan.


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.citizenstrade.org/pipermail/ctcfield-citizenstrade.org/attachments/20130403/34a3317d/attachment-0003.htm>