Senators, Industry Demand Japanese Tariff Elimination in TPP
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations should not be completed until Japan agrees to eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers on U.S. agricultural exports, said a bipartisan group of 15 senators in a Feb. 21 letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman. Japanese intransigence will encourage other TPP partners to refuse to make concessions, and could even jeopardize U.S. objectives in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, said the senators, led by Michael Bennett, D-Colo., and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.
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"This situation could undermine the administration's goal of significantly increasing market access for U.S. agricultural products in TPP party countries," said the letter. "In previous trade agreements, the United States requested and received full and comprehensive liberalization in the agricultural sector from both developed countries like Japan as well as developing countries." Japan continues to demand tariff exemptions for 586 agricultural tariff lines, roughly 11 percent of its tariff schedule, said the National Pork Producers' Council President (NPPC) in a Feb. 22 post. The U.S. has only permitted 233 tariff lines to be exempted in 17 existing free-trade agreements, said the NPPC.
“What is achieved in TPP with Japan will set the standard for future TPP partners such as China and the Philippines and for TTIP negotiations,” said NPPC President Randy Spronk in the post. “Japan’s market access offer, if accepted, would be a radical departure from past U.S. trade policy, exempting nearly three times more tariff lines than were exempted in all 17 previous U.S. free trade agreements combined. All U.S. sectors are at risk if the precedent of allowing widespread product tariff exemptions is established.” The current TPP ministerial in Singapore wraps up on Feb. 25.
Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of the letter.