[CTC] Japanese Official: TPP Negotiations Closed; No New Side Agreements

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Inside U.S. Trade
Japanese Official: TPP Negotiations Closed; No New Side Agreements
July 21, 2016

Changing existing side agreements or adding new ones would count as renegotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership -- and that's not going to happen, Japan's Deputy Chief of Missions Atsuyuki Oike said during an appearance in Washington, DC.

Oike, speaking during a luncheon at the National Foreign Trade Council on July 15, ruled out anything that could be construed as a renegotiation, especially with each of the 12 member nations focused on selling the existing deal to their own domestic audiences. This also means renegotiations will not happen when a new president is elected in the United States this fall because too many compromises have been made to reach this current stage, he asserted.

"The simple answer is no because renegotiations can be in different forms," Oike said when asked whether changes can be made through side agreements. "At the moment, we have to continue saying there is no renegotiation. If you start making differentiations about different forms [of renegotiation], that's a very dangerous path."

Oike also ruled out addressing currency issues in TPP, but said they could be taken up in other multilateral deals. He added that finance ministers in various countries are already talking about currency issues.

"TPP should not be touched," he said. "In that sense, I don't think we have a prospect for currency discussions in the context of TPP, but that doesn't mean we don't talk."

Japan is still optimistic the United States can pass TPP this year, but there's no time limit for the deal's completion, Oike said. He declined, though, to address comments from House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) calling for changes before TPP can come to the floor for a vote.
The focus on passing TPP in Japan and the need to get it passed in the United States means Japan is not considering bilateral deals as a backup.

"A bilateral between the U.S. and Japan, for the time being, we haven't thought about that," Oike said. "In many ways, the TPP includes that particular aspect."

On China's non-market economy status, Japan is taking the same stance as the United States and some in the European Union in pushing to preserve China's status, Oike said.

That comment came after the United States told China at a WTO Council on Trade in Goods meeting on July 14 that its treatment as a non-market economy does not automatically end when a provision of China's accession protocol expires in December.

Japan, though, is open to allowing China into TPP in the future as long as the Chinese government is willing to meet its obligations, Oike said. He added that some people in China have expressed a desire to join TPP over pursuing some of the nation's current trade deals.

"I am not saying this is their national policy, but there are a number of people who are interested," Oike said "They are saying that if Vietnam can be a part of it, then they can be a part of it at some stage. -- Nate Robson
 
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