from Japan Times: Trade negotiators from the U.S. and Japan met Thursday in Tokyo to work out what they hope will be a final bilateral deal needed for the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.
The meeting took place as Kyodo News reported that the government was discussing a nontariff framework for certain imports in return for allowing Japan to maintain high tariffs on rice.
Along with beef, pork, wheat, sugarcane, and dairy products, rice is one of Japan’s so-called sacred sectors, where political pressure to maintain high tariffs in the face of cheaper imports from the U.S. has stymied efforts to conclude a TPP agreement.
The U.S. is pushing Japan to accept 175,000 tons of American rice above current levels, plus another 40,000 tons of rice products, for a total of 215,000 tons. The Japanese government has said it cannot accept more than an additional 50,000 tons of rice.
According to Kyodo, Japan is also considering expanding imports of rice from Australia under a special quota, the amount of which is expected to be around 12 percent of that for the United States.
Despite the tough negotiations so far, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed confidence ahead of the bilateral meeting.
“We’re approaching the finish line,” Abe said at a symposium in Tokyo on Thursday morning.
