USTR Urged To Use TPP To Change Japan's Trade Barriers

The leading US politicians with responsibility for international trade matters, in a letter to the United States Trade Representative (USTR) Ron Kirk, have advised that the Administration should “consult closely with Congress and other stakeholders well in advance of any decisions” related to a possible request from Japan to participate in Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations.

In their bipartisan letter to the USTR, the House of Representatives Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R - Michigan) and Ranking Member Sander Levin (D - Michigan), along with the Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D - Montana) and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R - Utah), said that, if Japan were to make such an announcement at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Honolulu, “it could represent an opportunity for much needed change in Japan's approach to international trade."

The opinion was expressed that, “despite being the world’s third-largest economy, Japan has long sheltered its domestic market from meaningful competition, such that a large number of US goods and services face “serious market access barriers in Japan.”

"Many of these barriers are deeply embedded in Japan's economy, and to date, have persisted notwithstanding existing trade rules and years of bilateral engagement," the letter adds. "This raises concerns as to whether traditional disciplines contained in past free trade agreements (FTAs) can alone be effective in opening a market such as Japan's."

The lawmakers wrote that new rules, for example on non-tariff barriers, under the TPP “could, if sufficiently robust be applied to address at least some of these concerns," but warned that Japan's inclusion "would add dramatically new dimensions and complexities to the TPP negotiations.

Their letter concluded that, while "Japan is a long-time US ally and friend in Asia,” the “paramount considerations in evaluating a request relating to a trade agreement must be whether Japan is willing and able to meet the high standard commitments inherent in US FTAs and whether inclusion would truly open this historically-closed market to the benefit of our companies, workers and farmers.”

November 13, 2011

Source: Tax News