politics

Abe, Trudeau extol Pacific trade pact without U.S.

33 Comments
By Lars Hagberg

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

© 2019 AFP

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

33 Comments
Login to comment

Alwaysspeaking wisdom (Great job, Misnomer-Man!)

Shinzo Abe has a date with greatness. 

Well, he's been in office since 2012. Precisely what "Greatness" has he achieved since then? Because all I see is a whole lot of can-kicking and pinning of hopes on a corrupt Olympic vampire.

I'm all in favour of closer ties with Canada. About time we got some decent bacon in this burg.

17 ( +19 / -2 )

.

"high quality Canadian products"

.

Conversely, Canada could benefit from some "high quality" Japanese Products.

.

9 ( +12 / -3 )

It's not about free and open trade, it never was. The final documents will be private until passed by all parties, and most of it is written by large Corporate interest, we owe some of these document releases to Wikileaks. I would imagine all state parties within the agreements will be happy when Wikileaks is finally crushed and they can resume their secret meetings to control their servants. If you import items from the EU and are a small company you have no idea what you are in store for, absolutely no idea and no input into the process what so ever. Just a guess that this may help Toyota, but it is not going to help the mom and pop company's, JMHO. Have never seen a Trade Pact that helped the common worker ever, if you find one please extrapolate.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

Trump isn't going to be happy with Trudeau and Abe for these comments.

Except that he'll likely never hear them - his staff won't tell him the truth, and Fox "News" (which the Mueller report showed is controlled by Trump and acts as his propaganda channel) would never report it since it paints him in a bad light.

So I guess I should say "Trump wouldn't be happy with Trudeau and Abe's comments if he heard them".

7 ( +15 / -8 )

99% of Americans value their close friendship and economic cooperation with our northern nation - the fact that they have a beautiful country and are extremely welcoming are just added bonuses.

Donnie is just doing his Master Putin's bidding - what he has been doing since Day 1 of his administration - insult your friends and pull back from Alliances so Russia can operate more freely and unopposed....

What does Putin have on Donnie that he dances like a puppet every time Putin pulls a string?

7 ( +15 / -8 )

Canadian beef exports to Japan have tripled in recent months "while the Americans do not have that kind of access."

Where is these canadian beef being sold never seen it in any supermarket here in the kansai area.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

Japan buying Canadian beef and dairy all ready for you given USA protectionism and among other products.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Conversely, Canada could benefit from some "high quality" Japanese Products.

Specifically what "high quality" Japanese products does Canada need?

4 ( +11 / -7 )

Shimon Masada is on the money.

People are more concerned about how trump and the us relate to all this, when no one is actually discussing the deal itself or if it really is in their people's favor.

Even the article is written in a way with puns included and a "screw you America" attitude. The deal wasn't made in defiance to trump and America. It's ridiculous to even insinuate that. But they know people will support it if they give it an anti-trump color to it, instead of reporting on what are in these "free trade" agreements.

4 ( +8 / -4 )

"High quality Canadian products"..........what are they? Almost everything I see for sale in Canada is made in China. Canada like the UK has let almost all it's manufacturing go to China for the sake of saving a few dollars. Confusing state of affiairs. Didn't Trudeau refer to Japan as China by accident, wondering why this isn't being reported here.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

Japan has to be careful and not be succumbed into thinking all gates should be opened. There are aspects of the Japanese economy that can only survived as a purely domestic entity, and there are values that only Japanese people would appreciate and support.

I don't buy the totally open and free trade narrative, it's a multi-national conglomerates dominated agenda and it shifts wealth from ordinary working people to international (borderless) elites. Trump in this case is just a distraction and is being used to obfuscate the real issues, like whether small farms have to eventually compete with giant industrialized operations located in third world countries.

3 ( +7 / -4 )

For those who like bacon, we got bacon. For those who like milk and dairy we got that without HGH. For those who like Maple Syrup....

This is a long long time coming for Canada to get out of the shadow of the USA and into the markets of Japan, and elsewhere surpassing many PM's.

CPTPP lets all members get out of the shadows of our neighbours and stand tall and it makes sense that no larger country should be connected to it, otherwise it would be run by them not us

3 ( +6 / -3 )

Excluded from both CPTPP and BRI , America is going to lose the trade and turn to war.

America is not excluded. They have just pulled out of the arrangement.

There is no trade war going on.

Actually, ot is America that is advancing fair trade. Operative word "fair". Japan beware.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

The TPP took effect a while ago, but in Japan I see no new products from Canada (or other nations), and certainly no price reductions. Imported fruits and beef remain outrageously expensive. In fact, the cheapest place is still Costco. It seems the TPP was nothing more than an agreement to make the importers rich.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Better to have ten friends than five. Thank you Canada, and don’t get mad Trump.

2 ( +7 / -5 )

Excluded from both CPTPP and BRI , America is going to lose the trade and turn to war.

2 ( +9 / -7 )

I've seen Canadian beef for sale in Don Quijote in Shibuya recently.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Recently there has been a lot more Canadian pork available in our supermarkets, but I think as for beef haven’t seen any angus at all. Would love to buy some when it becomes available.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Canadian beef exports to Japan have tripled in recent months "while the Americans do not have that kind of access."

That's kind of funny. Every time I'm in Japan I dine at least once at a restaurant that is so very proud of the American beef on their menu. Even funnier is that most Americans want to try Japanese beef, not American.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Two of our closest allies agreeing to things to help both of their economies as we sit on the sidelines going deeper and deeper in debt thanks to Mr. Trump tax break to the rich and his willingness to sanction our friends around the world. As an American, I know this to shall pass.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

TPP isn't just about selling consumer products. It's also about public procurement and bidding for lucrative infrastructure projects.

For example, The Japan Transport Engineering Company is working with the Canadian company SNC-Lavalin to build a new train line in Bangkok. I'm sure Trudeau knows all about that.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The talks are what it could be and should be.

To do any negotiations as a "group" be it TPP or even EU, other than to "agree" to "assure fairness" between the negotiating individual nations, there will always be winners and losers, often a far cry from a "win-win" for each participating nation. Therefore to do direct bi-lateral negotiation is better.

This is a good move.

Hopefully, all nations will continue to negotiate and work out deals directly.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

but never seen Canadian? For that matter Canadian anything?

Not sure where you live but I see Quebec maple syrup in every supermarket in Kyoto.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Canada is going to lose on these deals, Trump was wise to leave and do US deals one on one.

-1 ( +9 / -10 )

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (or CPTPP) was another attempt by the US to control the global economy and as soon as it found that other nations wanted an input, a say in the "Partnership", the US pulled out. All nations should negotiate trade and sideline the US. Don't Trump advocate isolation? Let Trump have it and leave the world in peace.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

The President of the United States doesn't care because the top was a scam and an unfair trade deal for the US. The TPP creates a new entity that decides what free trade is not the sovereign nation. They can trumpet the deal all they want the USA is doing just fine without it; just look at recent economic statistics of the USA.

Have said that, I wish the best for Canada and Japan. I hope their economies grow a well and people of all nation's reap the benefits from capitalism. To the stars and beyond, Team Human!

-2 ( +6 / -8 )

Two leaders heading in opposite directions. Shinzo Abe has a date with greatness. Justin Trudeau has a date with the dustbin.

-5 ( +8 / -13 )

No offense to Canadians, i am sure some are good people, but Trudeau is the absolute definition of a slimy leech.

-6 ( +14 / -20 )

"...not falling back on protectionism as a way of growing our economy," 

Better to stagnate with "free trade" than grow with protectionism, eh? Our growth rates used to be a lot higher when our governments protected our markets.

"Trump isn't going to be happy with Trudeau and Abe for these comments."

I doubt he cares much. Trump's economy is growing faster than Abe's and Trudeau's put together.

-7 ( +9 / -16 )

Maple syrup causes obesity according to facts. Japanese old people love their sweets.

-9 ( +1 / -10 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites