Japan’s next government, which is likely to be led by Shinzo Abe as prime minister, has suggested it may join a US-backed Pacific-wide free-trade deal, a report said yesterday.
Tokyo has previously shown interest in joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), but remained non-committal in the face of fierce opposition from its cosseted farming industry.
Participation by the world’s third-largest economy would give a shot in the arm to a pact seen as a key plank of US President Barack Obama’s “pivot to Asia,” and a counterbalance to China’s rising regional clout.
Referring to the possibility of joining the TPP, Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior coalition partner, the New Komeito Party, “will pursue the best path that would serve Japan’s national interest,” they said in their final coalition agreement, the Asahi Shimbun reported.
The coalition, which is due to take office officially tomorrow, also agreed on promoting other free-trade frameworks, it said.
The comment contains a more positive note on participation in the TPP compared with the LDP and New Komeito Party’s election pledges before the Dec. 16 poll that brought Abe a landslide victory.
In an apparent move to garner farmers’ votes, the LDP had said during the election campaign it “opposes participation as long as joining the pact requires preconditions of abolishing tariffs without exception.”
The New Komeito Party had also taken a cautious stance on early participation in the trade pact.
The day after Abe’s poll victory, Japan’s major business lobby, Keidanren, urged Abe to join the trade talks “at an early date.”
“We urge the new government to participate in the negotiations of the TPP at an early date, as we have no time to waste on the issue,” Keidanren chairman Hiromasa Yonekura said in a statement.
Business lobbies say Japan’s export-oriented economy would be a major beneficiary of the promotion of a global multilateral free-trade system.
Separately, the yen dipped against the US dollar and the euro in Asian trade yesterday as Abe stepped up pressure on the Bank of Japan to set a 2 percent inflation target.
He told Fuji Television the bank’s policy board must back his proposed 2 percent inflation goal next month and warned failure to do so would mean he would amend the law that sets out its duties and guarantees its independence.
The market has welcomed his rhetoric, sending the yen lower and boosting the Nikkei index.
In Asian trade the euro bought ￥111.19, compared with ￥110.05 late on Friday in New York, while it was also at US$1.3178 from US$1.3181.
The US dollar fetched ￥84.35 up from ￥84.25.
“The yen is finding sellers, even in thin holiday trade,” said Jason Hughes, head of premium client management for IG Markets Singapore.
“The changes in political circles in Japan mean we will see a more aggressive stance in weakening [the yen],” he said.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
RSS