Japan says TPP pact, without U.S., to be signed in March

to resolve rifts including Canada's insistence on protections for its cultural industries such as movies, TV and music

I just read the headline of JT where Canada is talking smack about US protectionism. Hmmm.

Canadian movies and TV shows? ummmm haha

The details of the agreement, and the time-frame for their implementation, will determine whether or not this is a "win" for any of the countries that signed it.

If it's anything like what was being discussed when the US was involved, the benefits to the local consumers would been seen when their grandchildren are born! Keeping tariffs in place for 30 years or more, to give the "local" farmers or producers an opportunity to "adjust" is BS. It's keeping THIS generation of people fat and happy, and putting off the hard problems to the next and following generations.

Dango bong

We'll take the Oscar this year and we film a lot of shows here too. A lot of post production is also done here. Y'know, with union labour and quality

Yubaru

cant say I’m an expert and I’m pretty open on TPP just now. But if what you say is true... and it wouldn’t surprise me. Then this is a disaster in the making.

Without the US in TPP China will still be the dominant power in the Indo Pacific region and will slowly run the US into bankruptcy trying to maintain military dominance. Trump's MAGA is a foolish five year plan whereas China has a 55 yr plan.

sf2k I think Canada has an over-inflated value on their own commodities to make them a contentious point in these negotiations. Then again nobody cares about TPP since the US pulled out so have fun with it

It's clear the world is looking for trade deals beyond a circling the drain USA

cant say I’m an expert and I’m pretty open on TPP just now. But if what you say is true... and it wouldn’t surprise me. Then this is a disaster in the making.

That link is to the tariff schedule for the previous TPP agreement that Trump backed the US out of. Many Japanese products would continue to have a tariff imposed for 15 years or more, and some never eliminated. It's a LONG document and the bottom link is to the text of the entire document.

It's dry, but informative reading. Some tariffs will drop from around 30% to 10% or so, but it takes 20 years to implement.

https://www.mfat.govt.nz/assets/Trans-Pacific-Partnership/Annexes/2-D.-Japan-Tariff-Elimination-Schedule.pdf

https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/about-us/who-we-are/treaties/trans-pacific-partnership-agreement-tpp/text-of-the-trans-pacific-partnership

Didn't Motegi claim that TPP had been settled in November, only for Canada to back out? Japan's desperation is palpable; the failure of this TPP means China will fill the vacuum of a fading US in Asia and Japan will also be wide open in negotiating a bilateral trade deal with Trump and his MAGA cohorts.

No wonder the Japanese side and its media lickspittles keep declaring they've won before the final whistle has blown.

As I suspected, the world is starting to bypass the USA in their trade deals. Trump has shown the world they cannot be trusted to stick with any deals they make, and therefore is not a viable trading partner long term.

This isn't a small deal. 500 million person trading block representing 14% of the world economy. Without China or USA, I'd say that's a win

sf2k, the quality of the market isn't there. Japan needs high value market.

Akie, yeah I can see that. I'd be concerned about low wages in Asia and the auto sector jobs here in Canada. Japan Australia New Zealand Canada probably would jive on quality more than the rest, so it might not be a total loss. I'd be concerned about carbon taxes / carbon trading, as I want that to go up, and not be undermined. That way businesses of any country that have made strides to reduce pollution are still players driving the market

Current LDP sure is hellbent on getting a trade deal done.

Any big business deal that has secret written all over it, is probably gunna make a few very rich.

Don’t trust it personally.

Just b/c Trump is against the TPP doesn't make it good. Many of the folks criticizing him on this issue would have been perfectly fine had the Democratic nominee won the election, not that I trusted her opposition to this horrid deal.

It'll be interesting to see how the TPP plays out in each country. I wonder who will be allowed to vote on it?

Didn't Motegi claim that TPP had been settled in November, only for Canada to back out? Japan's desperation is palpable; the failure of this TPP means China will fill the vacuum of a fading US in Asia and Japan will also be wide open in negotiating a bilateral trade deal with Trump and his MAGA cohorts.

No wonder the Japanese side and its media lickspittles keep declaring they've won before the final whistle has blown.

exactly. it isn't going to go through. once canada backs out the smaller countries will be like that's it IM out of here

Its great, at least the Asian economies can go about the business of screwing each other without the United States.

Doomed for failure, Without the U.S. there is no TPP, should be called TFT, (tit for tat)

I'm skeptical of it. Now it just seems like there is one less country whose corporations can rule all. This time, however, that country's corporations won't have to compete for any territory with the US corporations.

Great news. Now the remaining TPP'ers can raid each other's piggy banks. . . .

Canada is reacting against Trump's threat to pull out of the NAFTA. If that happens, American farmers will truly have something to worry about. (Immigration crackdowns have already left many seriously short of labor.)

I think its most positive aspect is that it draws South American and Asian countries closer together in terms of trade. Is there another agreement, of this scale, that does that? I'm not aware of one. And it gives Japan de-facto leadership of what is still quite a large trade grouping even without the U.S. It offers an alternative to China's RCEP under Japanese leadership, at least for now. The U.S will see the value in this agreement in time. South America is there backyard after all. I wasn't surprised that Canada eventually saw the value in it.

I will be curious to see what Indonesia does. Pretty important from Australia's perspective.

Good. With or without US, TPP is good. It could be better, but it is at least better than status-quo. Lowering tariffs is always good for trade.

Beef tariff will be lowered gradually to 9% from current 38.5% in 15 years, which is definitely better than keeping 38.5% for next 15 years. Pork from Canada will only cost 50 Yen/kg instead of current 482 yen within 10 years.

This is an epic win for Japan, really well done! There are no downsides to this deal and I suspect the US will join it once Trump is out

This is an epic win for Japan, really well done! There are no downsides to this deal and I suspect the US will join it once Trump is out

Hillary was against it as well. Although I still think they will eventually come around.

Japan needs the trade opportunity without China breathing down their neck.

Hillary was against it as well. Although I still think they will eventually come around.

Hillary was never "against" it.

First she was for it until her sheltered team discovered most Americans don't like it, so she flipped and flopped and came up with a typical line of politicians saying something around "we need to take a second look at it."

ive said it before and ill say it again, this is nothing more than a way of speeding up Chinas power and like in 72 when kissinger/nixon handed the manufacturing of the world over to china they then wait and wait till china wants to exert its power and then scream bloody murder and start a war. pearl harbour, gulf of tonkin, weapons of mass destruction.

Gill Scott - Heron B Movie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLtRHN7fsgY

Wolfpack

The question remains, will Japan Inc. take the opportunity? With so many offices in China it seems to have a reluctance to move away

 Trump has shown the world they cannot be trusted to stick with any deals they make, and therefore is not a viable trading partner long term.

Wow, ok I suppose your country's GDP is not directly reliant on the US economy then. Must be from Burma or Marshall Islands

Abe is wasting his time and bluffing again. TPP is not optimized for business. Its negative impact on Japan's economy will be shown in a few years if it is passed by all in March.

the fact that TPP will destroy japanese fishing and agriculture industries is not so important. the workers are 70+ so in 10 years with no income, they will be gone. the real worry about TPP is the secret hidden stuff, that if you are interested you can find on wikileaks.

Without China or USA, I'd say that's a win

It's a win for some, not for everyone though. Would be naïve to think TPP (or any FTA for that matter) will be a win for all 11 members & their industries, especially considering the massive differences between nations involved. You can't compete with Viet Nam, Peru, Malaysia etc on price if you're an oz/japan biz manufacturing consumer goods company for example. Some will lose their jobs, others will make millions, jobs outsourcing will increase etc. Also another good reason for bosses NOT to raise wages to remain competitive with their trading partners where costs are lower.

Personally I prefer FTA between similar size countries/regions/economies (like the one that's being negotiated between the EU and US) or bilateral agreements.

the original tpp was a boon for MNCs and intellectual property. this one is no different. this trade pact is meant to throw consumers a few bones, while the MNCs continue to reap mega profits. thanks but no thanks.

(Motegi) He added Japan would explain the importance of the deal to Washington in hopes of persuading it to join.

Forget about trying to convince them. Let them see how successful it will be and if/when they want back in, make sure it's not so easy. Get some concessions from the US and make sure they don't try to strong-arm their way back in.

Beef tariff will be lowered gradually to 9% from current 38.5% in 15 years, which is definitely better than keeping 38.5% for next 15 years. Pork from Canada will only cost 50 Yen/kg instead of current 482 yen within 10 years.

A hell of a lot can happen over the course of 15 years, there really is no need for it to take this long, and as the tariffs drop and local producers start seeing a cut in their incomes and profits, you can bet your life on them pitching a major fit to the government to change things.

The chance to sign is only 50%, if not less. Abe may have to offer concessions to show his virtual leadership.

The details of the agreement, and the time-frame for their implementation, will determine whether or not this is a "win" for any of the countries that signed it.

There is no transparency in TPP, the draft is confidential and the public is largely in the dark..

The chance to sign is only 50%, if not less. Abe may have to offer concessions to show his virtual leadership.

It will be signed on March 8th in Chile. Seems to be a done deal to me.

Just b/c Trump is against the TPP doesn't make it good. Many of the folks criticizing him on this issue would have been perfectly fine had the Democratic nominee won the election,

I was against the TPP then, and I’m still pretty antsy about it now. The reason I’m not as against it has nothing to do with Trump actually, rather I was particularly worried about privacy issues baked into it by the US. With the US not part of it now, I’m slightly less worried. But that said, if the same privacy issues are baked into this new partnership, it doesn’t bode well for the future.

Year after year Japan has huge trade deficits with the US in Japan's favor. Don't let Japan fool anyone about free trade with it's many trade barriers.

All Trump is asking, for a one on one, fair playing field for truly free trade.

Don't let Japan fool anyone about free trade with it's many trade barriers.

Like what? There is no tariff on cars. And I can often get a certain model smartphone (or other electronic item) cheaper in Japan than I can in the USA. Trump just imposed tariff on solar panels. Not so in Japan and new homes in Japan are often built with these cheaper Chinese solar panels

Excessive requirements for imported cars drive up the cost and are more detrimental than taxes themselves. With processed food and other agricultural products (from the USA), there are hidden trade barriers of unfair requirements that drive up the cost of goods.

Year after year Japan has huge trade deficits with the US in Japan's favor.

Japan has huge trade deficits with China and other countries in their favors.

All Trump is asking, for a one on one, fair playing field for truly free trade.

US is not a fair player, everybody knows it except the brainwashed by the country.

Excessive requirements for imported cars drive up the cost

What are the excessive requirements? It's not practical to have a foreign car in Japan. But why are European car sales steady and not so for US, with the exception of Jeep? Chinese solar panels are selling well and the government is not slowing it down. Apple doing well. So is Disney. USJ. So are American medical devices. AFLAC which is an American company gets most of their business in Japan. Coca Cola.