Tokyo Needs To Learn Compromise

By William Bryant

The rocky negotiations between Japan and the United States over the Trans-Pacific Partnership multilateral free trade initiative have reached a crucial stage, with Tokyo showing no willingness to compromise on agricultural issues—one of the biggest issues in their talks. It is important for Aso and his cabinet to make further efforts to find common ground with Washington.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Barack Obama, who held talks Thursday in Tokyo, provided only photo op toward forging an ambitious accord to promote a high level of free trade.  Nothing of any substance came from the talk because of Abe's unwillingness to put agriculture and automobiles on the table.  Regardless of what spin Obama puts on the issue, the TPP is as good as dead from Tokyo's perspective and that really is fine with Abe and his LDP minstrels.

Two days of talks on the bilateral pact between Akira Amari, state minister in charge of TPP affairs, and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman ended last night in Tokyo. The meeting was important in that it was intended to pave the way for an agreement ahead of the rest of Obama's Asian visit, but the sides failed to conclude a broad agreement again.  This may be bad for Obama back home, but it is worse for Abe.  Sources say the US is now going to approach Beijing.  That is really bad news for Abe, and it could very well be the case that Japan will be selling its goods in Japan only is China is invited into the TPP and agrees.

“There was certain progress, but the two sides remained substantially far apart,” Amari said after the talks. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative also said in a statement, “We are now faced with a reasonable number of outstanding issues. These issues are important to both sides and considerable differences remain.  We have options outside of Japan and we may pursue those now.  Tokyo has had enough time to come on board.”

Obama was not too pleased that the Office of US Trade Representative made the statement that shows the actual Asian Pivot of Obama.  If Abe said no now, then those "other options outside Japan" are China, China, and China.

Japan and the United States will probably hold no more working-level talks because the time frame of the rest of the TPP members have agreed to the working nature of the agreement since 2009, before the US and Australia invited Japan.  When Japan was invited it brought protest from Malaysia and Vietname because of the situation now.

The round of ministerial talks in Tokyo have failed to reach an accord mainly because of stubbornness which, the Liberal Democratic Party insists, should keep agriculture and automobiles exempted from tariff removal.

In addition to placing importance on concluding a TPP agreement, Obama has been pushing a policy of expanding U.S. exports. Abe, for his part, was enthusiastic about reaching a TPP accord by making TPP a pillar of Japan’s growth strategy.  Only if agriculture and automobiles were exempted from the agreement.

The time is ripe for theU.S. leaders to bridge their gaps from a broad perspective to stimulate the vigor of the Asia-Pacific region under the leadership of the US and China now.  Forget Tokyo and pivot to the real leader in Asia.  Let the LDP face their consequences.  Too much time has been wasted with Japan, and as the other members have said, get back on track by turning to Beijing.

A prolonged confrontation between the two nations could set TPP negotiations adrift. Ten other participants in TPP negotiations, including Australia, are closely watching developments.  The time has come to save the TPP by cutting Japan out.