US praises Japan for FTA plan
Reuters | 25 October 2010
US praises Japan for FTA plan
Washington
The US welcomes Japan’s new interest in joining negotiations on the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership, which would require it to tackle tough US agriculture and other concerns, a senior US State Department official said yesterday.
“Obviously, there’s substantial gratification at the level of Japan’s interest. At a strategic and political level, that’s very welcome and it’s a substantial change,” said Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
He noted, however, that Japan had not made a final decision on joining the talks, which would have to be cleared by the US and other countries participating in the negotiations.
The US and seven other countries – Australia, Chile, Singapore, Peru, Brunei, Vietnam and New Zealand – held their third round of talks on the TPP last month and announced that Malaysia would be joining the negotiations.
Supporters hope the nine countries involved in the talks can conclude the proposed regional free trade deal by the time President Barack Obama hosts an Asia-Pacific summit meeting in Hawaii in November 2011.
Adding Japan, one of the world’s largest economies, would greatly increase the potential market-opening gains of the proposed pact.
But it could also complicate the negotiations because of US industry concerns about lowering remaining tariffs on Japanese-made autos, and Tokyo’s previous resistance to opening its rice and other agricultural markets.
