Japan Press Weekly

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2015 February 4 - 10 [ECONOMY]

TPP, the very act of betrayal of general public

Akahata editorial (excerpts)

Japan-U.S. working-level talks on agricultural trade resumed on February 3 over a proposed multinational free trade pact, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Japan is, reportedly, making significant concessions to the U.S. such as with drastic cuts in beef/pork tariffs and an increase in the import quota of rice. Amari Akira, State Minister in Charge of the TPP, reveals nothing about what they are discussing in the bilateral talks but never denies what the media is reporting. He said, “I am trying to arrange an agreement with as little concessions as possible.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. National Pork Producers Council has released a statement welcoming an outcome achieved in the negotiations between the two countries. It states, “Significant progress has been made with respect to Japan’s market access offer on pork thanks to the hard work of U.S. trade officials and the strong support of the U.S. Congress.” While neither Japanese producers nor consumers know about Japan’s concessions in detail, the U.S. industry group seemingly obtained information on the negotiations and even gave its endorsement in advance of a conclusion of the negotiations.

The Abe Cabinet rejects the disclosing of information to the public based on a requirement that the content of the TPP negotiations be kept secret. The government is pretending to make the best possible effort to abide by a Diet resolution banning any concession regarding the “five key items” of rice, wheat, beef/pork, dairy, and sugar.

In October last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture published a report estimating that the elimination of the remaining tariffs will increase the value of agricultural trade among the 12 TPP countries by about 8.5 billion dollars in 2025. However, “Japan will account for almost 70% of the expansion in intraregional agricultural imports,” according to the report. It also states that if Japan purchased all U.S. japonica rice exports, “it would increase U.S. exports to Japan by 130-150%.”

If that is the case, Japan will be the sole loser in that tariff-free deal. Japan’s food self-sufficiency rate is already as low as 39%. The country will come to depend even further on other countries for its food and possibly on America for its staple food. This will be the very act of betrayal of the general public.

Participating in the TPP will have various negative impacts on not only Japan’s five key agricultural products but also on domestic medical services, the labor market, farming/food industries, food safety, and national sovereignty.

The negotiations are still continuing and have not yet come to a conclusion. Japan can still pull out of the TPP talks. The government should make a decision to avoid doing irreparable damage to the public welfare.