Japan took a hard line on defending its rice market in trade talks with the US, as ministers prepared for negotiations that could pave the way for a broader trans-Pacific trade deal.
Access to Japan’s farm market and the US car market remain obstacles to a bilateral deal, vital to the success of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) pact.
The world’s No. 1 and No. 3 economies account for about 80 percent of the economic output of the 12-member TPP.
Yesterday, Japanese Minister of State for Economic Revitalization Akira Amari said that Japan would not accept a US demand to boost minimum access for its rice imports, ahead of two days of talks with his counterpart, US Trade Representative Michael Froman.
Staking out Japan’s position, Amari told a talk show that Tokyo would not accept US demands on access for US-grown rice, while pressing Washington to further open the US car parts market.
“Negotiations cannot work if one side makes no concessions, but there are various domestic restrictions,” Amari told public broadcaster NHK. “Rice, in particular, is produced across Japan, so we are carefully negotiating, while feeling a domestic sense of crisis. I can promise it will not result in anything shocking.”
Japan is prepared to allow an import quota for US rice of 50,000 tonnes a year, just a quarter of the US demand, a Nikkei newspaper reported on Saturday.
“We will not swallow the US demand or close to it,” Amari said, adding that a breakthrough could be made in talks on bilateral car trade.
Japan has sought the immediate abolition of a 2.5 percent tariff on US imports of auto parts, but Washington, under pressure from the politically powerful auto industry, wants to maintain auto-related tariffs as long as possible, the paper reported.
Amari reiterated that he did not expect a deal before a bilateral summit in Washington on Tuesday next week, but hoped for progress enough to be welcomed by US President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
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