Japan, US Hold TPP Talks

by Leroy Baker, Tax-News.com, New York

10 February 2012

The United States and Japan have recently held a senior-level bilateral consultation on Japan’s interest in participating in the negotiations to extend the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

The meeting, which was co-chaired by Wendy Cutler, Assistant US Trade Representative, and Takeshi Yagi, Director General for Economic Affairs in Japan’s Foreign Ministry, was the first official bilateral consultation with Japan following the November 2011 announcement by the Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda expressing Japan’s intention to begin consultations with TPP countries toward joining the TPP negotiations.

In the meeting, the Japanese officials delivered a report on the status of its domestic consultations on TPP as well as an update on Japan’s recent consultations with other TPP member countries. US officials provided an update on the status of the TPP negotiations themselves.

US officials also summarized and highlighted an array of general and specific issues raised by stakeholders in response to a recent US consultation process to assess Japan’s expression of interest in the TPP. These stakeholder comments included a range of sector-specific issues in the insurance, agriculture, and automotive sectors, among others.

In turn, Japanese officials underscored the Japanese government’s readiness to engage with the US on a range of issues going forward. Noda had already taken the opportunity, late last year, to confirm that he would, as required, put all goods and services on the negotiating table for trade liberalization, despite substantial opposition in Japan from its agricultural sector, as there would be no tariff exemptions allowed for sensitive products, such as beef, rice and wheat.

As a next step, both governments agreed to hold a follow-up meeting at the working level on February 21-22 in Washington, D.C., as the bilateral consultative process continues.

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