The following analysis is from the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun:
Despite Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s pledge to protect national interests, Japan appears set to lose far more than it will gain–at least initially–from joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal.Akira Amari, minister in charge of the TPP, said the United States, which has led the TPP negotiations, made a number of key demands of Japan because it is only now ready to join the TPP process. Amari said Japan and the United States will continue to discuss when U.S. tariffs on automobiles will be lifted.
Japan will make substantial concessions on automobiles to the United States, while it is unclear whether it can keep tariffs on key farm produce, according to a Japan-U.S agreement announced on April 12.
The United States will maintain a 2.5 percent tariff on cars and a 25 percent tariff on trucks for imports from Japan for the maximum period allowed under the TPP.
“We have been taken advantage of and forced to pay a steep admission fee,” lamented a senior official of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
With U.S. approval effectively guaranteed, Japan is expected to take part in TPP negotiations as early as late July.
