U.S. Wants Japan In TPP By July, But APEC Announcement Still Un...

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U.S. Wants Japan In TPP By July, But APEC Announcement Still Uncertain
Posted: April 18, 2013

Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday (April 17) said the Obama administration hopes that Japan will be able to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations in July. This statement raises expectations that all TPP members will formally welcome Japan into the talks at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit this weekend and suggests that TPP members may, as many have suspected, schedule another formal round of talks in July. "Canada, New Zealand and Australia still need to make a decision about them coming in," Kerry said at an April 17 House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, in reference to Japan. "But the hope is that we could get to the July negotiations with Japan and really move forward on that." The next scheduled TPP round will take place in mid-May; after that, TPP members have said they will hold another round in September. While the United States has said it supports Japan's bid to join the talks, all TPP members have not yet done so. However, trade ministers from all TPP members will meet in Indonesia this weekend (April 20-21) on the margins of an APEC summit. If all TPP members can jointly agree that Japan should be allowed to join the talks, that would allow the Obama administration to then notify Congress of its intent to enter into new trade negotiations with Japan. Under USTR procedures, that notification must come 90 days before the U.S. actually commences trade talks with Japan. For that reason, an announcement at the APEC summit this weekend would allow Japan to join by late July, and could allow TPP members to possibly schedule a formal round in late July as well, where Japanese officials would be allowed to participate for the first time. Kerry said Japan is "very anxious" to join the TPP talks. Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Toshimitsu Motegi and Japan's minister in charge of TPP affairs, Akira Amari, will attend the APEC meeting where they will meet bilaterally with Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Peru to determine if they have made a final decision on Japan's participation, according to a Japanese government official. This official said Japan is still hoping that the other TPP participants will be able to reach a consensus this weekend on Japan's TPP entry. At the same time, however, a Canadian official this week stressed that Ottawa was still in the process of holding further consultations with Tokyo and Washington on the details of the U.S.-Japan bilateral deal that was announced late last week in order to determine how it would affect Canada. Under the terms of that deal, the U.S. and Japan set the terms for their bilateral negotiations within TPP on sensitive issues like automotive trade and non-tariff barriers. "What the U.S. did last week is something that we would go to Japan and say, 'What does this deal mean for us, and how do we fit in to all of this?' the official said. We would be looking to that deal as a basis of our discussion and seeking greater clarity. Canada likely wants more clarity on this deal from the U.S. and Japan before it would agree to let Japan join TPP. Washington and Tokyo also announced several initial negotiated outcomes on autos last week. For instance, while they still have to work out the details, they agreed in principle that U.S. automotive tariffs would be phased out in accordance with the longest possible phaseout period under a final TPP deal. They also agreed that the U.S. could "snap back" its lowered automotive tariffs if Japan fails to comply with the outcome of the bilateral talks on automotive issues. These aspects of the deal are likely to be of interest to Canada, as its automotive sector is deeply integrated with that of the U.S.

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