Japan, US claim good start to TPP talks

Tokyo

JAPANESE and US ministers said that bilateral trade negotiations got off to a good start on Sunday and the two nations would continue to discuss remaining issues, such as farm and car trade, on Monday.

Japan's Economy Minister Akira Amari and US Trade Representative Michael Froman made the comments after they kicked off two days of negotiations that could pave the way for a broader trans-Pacific trade deal. "We had a good initial set of discussions tonight of the outstanding issues and laid out a path forward tomorrow for continuing those discussions," Mr Froman told reporters. Access to Japan's farm market and the US car market remain obstacles to a bilateral deal, vital to the success of a long-delayed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) pact.

Japan is taking a hard line on defending its rice market in trade talks with the US.

Mr Amari said Japan would not accept a US demand to boost minimum access for its rice imports.

Staking out Japan's position, Mr Amari told a talk show that Tokyo would not accept US demands on access for American rice, while pressing Washington to further open the US car-parts market. "Negotiations can't work if one side makes no concessions, but there are various domestic restrictions," Mr Amari told public broadcaster NHK. "Rice, in particular, is produced across Japan, so we are carefully negotiating while feeling a domestic sense of crisis. I can promise it won't result in anything shocking." Japan is prepared to allow an import quota for US rice of 50,000 tonnes a year, just a quarter of the US demand, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Saturday. "We will not swallow the US demand," Mr Amari said, adding that a breakthrough could be made in talks on bilateral car trade.

Japan has sought immediate abolition of a 2.5 per cent tariff on US imports of car parts, but Washington, under pressure from the politically powerful car industry, wants to maintain car-related tariffs as long as possible, the Nikkei reported.

Mr Amari reiterated that he did not expect a deal before a bilateral summit in Washington on April 28 but hoped for progress enough to be welcomed by President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. REUTERS