politics

TPP opponents accuse Noda of making hasty decision to join talks

35 Comments

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35 Comments
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Japan is nutz if it doesn't take the plunge. S Korea will be licking its chops!!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The one thing that Japan has got to be careful of is getting frozen out of the TPP if they decline to be in at the start. The UK and Ireland didn't join the predecessor of the EU at the start and then found themselves blocked from entry by France for many years.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

it will Help Japan, & Japan & the US working together is alot more common & easy going than either of us working with china. Japans farm lands in Hokkaido are limited but also should be expanded & supported

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Japan has farms?

I never see anything growing, but next to the plots are nice houses and very nice cars.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

Japan for too long has been tied to Security and Nuclear Umbrella of USA. Now that USA is decline power and cannot stand upto rising china, it wants its share of pound of flesh. Japan had a lead in India in every field but it never shared with Indians. But South Koreans entered and occupied that space by sharing while Japan was thinking about how it was called a white race by the racist south africa. Now it has to wake upto reality that USA will not fight the battles with China.It has to build for its own security as well as look after its future in food security and economic well being.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

I hope they dont go for it , and whats australia doin with these guys ..USA would ok anything for a buck . Monsanto and Du Pont are already trying to screw every producer in AUS and every other food buyer ...we dont want your crap poison shite...everyone wants clean green foods pls...why cant you do it without this allaince ? too many liers in politics.This world is becoming intoterably dominated by greed and fools in power. Aust PM must go too... shes poorly regarded in Oz . Japan must not let the USA get in there again ,they will screw it all like every island in the pacific in WW2 , sorry to say that but its true ...dont belioeve me have a look at your work ! sad

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

You watch, next they put together a study committee to review the possibility of joining. They'll do anything to appear to be proactive. Domestic industries will have to learn to be competitive and effeciant.

Stop recruiting four people to do a job that one efficient employee could handle on their own. Japan is not competitive in some markets purely because of their memory of, and insistence of doings things the old way... For Japan to be competitive it needs to drastically shake things up internally, but as we all know, the J-dinosaurs in power have way too much vested (financial) interest, hence they are reluctant to reform the farmers and other industries (have to keep them happy so they can continue to milk the system for their own personal, financial and political gain)...

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Don't worry Japan,with any luck you will be excluded from The TPP.There is a strong movement in Washington and I hope they are successful.Who wants to do business with a country who's markets are closed.Financial suicide for the US,prosperity for Japan.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

I'm getting a little tired of hearing Party A's products are better than product B's. It isn't as simple as that.

-1 ( +0 / -2 )

Just watch how Japanese companies are going to infiltrate the U.S and Australian market with TPP. The competition goes both ways and Japanese companies usually offer better service and create better stuff.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Well TPP is form of controlling China. China makes shit load of money from copyright infringment. U.S wants to cut that loss by putting pressure on China by using TPP/

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

The Japanese economy needs this. Notice how it is only the right wing traditionalists objecting to the globalization of Japan's economy.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

I think TPP would be good for Japan but the Americans insist that Japan not label their foods GMO or cloned. We don't really want any of these foods in Japan or anywhere else. I would like to see more foods come from New Zealand and Australia and the other Asian members. Things like butter, cheese, beef etc. Foods that can be trusted but at the moment attract too much duty.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

It's sad that Japanese think that TPP is about competition, about who comes on top in the short run. Japan is better off without TPP, and TPP is better of without Japan.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

There are pro-Join Talks on TPP, anti-JT on TPP, and Shinchou-ha(cautious)-JT on TPP among DPJ.Those pro-groups are simply saying, "Let's join the talks and see what will happen". Noda said clearly, "We will protect what needs to be protected, and win what we need to gain." I think those Shinchou-ha made complicated things more complicated. I thought Shinchou-ha is anti-Join Talks on TTP. Some senior members including former farm minister Masahiko Yamada took part in the Tokyo rally, which involved around 6,000 farmers, politicians and consumer groups. When Noda announced Japan will join talks on TPP yesterday, what Yamada said is, "I'm so relieved to hear Noda limit himself to announcing consultations rather than committing himself to join the talks." I have no idea what he was saying there. What in the world does Shinchou-ha mean??? TPP is a negotiation. Of course each country should be shinchou(cautious) to protect their own country. Those vague words from DPJ politicians, such as "shinchou-ha" "ittei no medo", make complicated things (or maybe very simple thing) more complicated.

1 ( +2 / -2 )

Agriculture has done nothing for itself really in the last 30yrs when it shud have been morphing into larger more efficient/productive farms. JA has blocked any and all reforms, controls so much with regards to farming, runs gas stations, banks, funeral homes & ALL KINDS OF CRAP!

JA is a plague, needs to be torn apart for J-agriculture to have a chance at improving, this shud have been happening even if the TPP didnt exist, but no, the goofballs at JA have let farmers rot.

Clearly change is long overdue, cant let the 1.5% run the damned country into the ground any longer!

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Hasty??! Ha! Mind you, anything that takes less than six months out and gets dragged out is seen as hasty here. Just say yes and get on with it.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

why hasty when he has a working committee, spoken to all his top aids in length and even postponed a day to make a decision. These TPP opponents are just coming up with feable excuses to blame the decision he made, which were against their wishes. I rather Noda than Hatoyama...took his time to make a decision about Futenma and then had to resign because of his incompetence.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Hitoshi Hayakawa, a rice farmer in northern Hokkaido, said he was disappointed by the decision, but acknowledged that Japan’s agricultural sector has relied too much on government subsidies. “I hope discussions about TPP will prompt a national debate over how we can rebuild Japanese farming and achieve food safety and sufficiency,” An honest businessman farmer, a subsidy receiver ,but he acknowledges the problems of japanese farmers. Reform of the farming sector is long overdue. Novenacharma>"large scale farmers to run farms ending small scale farming even affecting food safety and food security." ???? But this will get efficiency ,and a better return per acre,at present there is so much japanese farming land, lying fallow,producing nothing. As for food safety Both the USA and Australia have some of the strictest rules regarding food safety and food security. Here is a chance with the TPP , for farmers to be more productive,increase self sufficiency, and join the export market.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

elbud mexico:

I do hope the TPP is a safe way for Japan to avoid becoming a slave of China. IMHO.

I bet you're already a slave to China. Tee hee hee.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Noda is not trying to please Washington. He's trying to get Japan out of an economic slump. He's trying to infuse new blood into an aging society. He's doing the right thing. It never hurts to listen.

I'm surprised that there is any objection at all to simply attending. We all know that in this day and age, information and knowing is half the battle of capitalism.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

How many more delays in making a decision would Noda have had to make in order for it NOT to be hasty? The people suggesting it's hasty, especially Kamei, are idiots -- it's only NEGOTIATIONS, not a commitment to join.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

.....have no idea about it all, but bring them fruit and vegies and them prices down under please

0 ( +1 / -1 )

but acknowledged that Japan’s agricultural sector has relied too much on government subsidies.

At least this guy knows what is what. Of course it's going to be hard to ween the farmers from the subsidizes that they have gotten over the years but in the long run if they choose to work at it they will have more markets to sell their products as well. I believe the industrious ones will find a way to make money off of this deal too.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Novenachama Nov. 12, 2011 - 08:26AM JST Japan will be forced to abolish tariffs which would be a fatal blow to Japanese agriculture and lead to a decline for the rural areas creating destruction of the natural environment causing a decline in the domestic industry affecting workers allowing large scale farmers to run farms ending small scale farming even affecting food safety and food security.

Without the TPP, the Japanese farmers will continue to have reliance on tariffs and ineffective government subsidies, which do not reward farms for innovation or productivity. In Japan, high transaction costs hamper efforts to consolidate farmland and raise efficiencies, leaving farms fragmented. Every time the farming industry has emerged as an issue of contention, agricultural organizations and Diet members with vested interests in the industry, who have an eye on future elections, have perverted policies and hampered reforms. That large amounts of government money ended up wastefully spent on useless projects, such as the construction of various facilities in farming villages and hot spring resorts. If TPP is accepted by Japan, the consumers will enjoy much lower prices on rice and other agricultural goods.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

The main purpose of the TPP agreement is to benefit United States counter the economic growth of China and gain influence in the regions to help reaffirm the role of America as a Asian power. TPP is simply a part of the Free Trade Agreement. FTA should have discussed prior to any decision about whether joining TPP is the right path for Japan or not. The problem with the FTA is that it provides discriminative trade rules fundamentally based on economism and has resulted in negative results. Therefore TPP has become a problem as well as in the hegemony duel regarding the establishment of economic blocks in the Asia-Pacific region. Japan will be forced to abolish tariffs which would be a fatal blow to Japanese agriculture and lead to a decline for the rural areas creating destruction of the natural environment causing a decline in the domestic industry affecting workers allowing large scale farmers to run farms ending small scale farming even affecting food safety and food security. Thus the United States is trying to abolish Japanese rules which they probably consider to be one-sided including their concern about Japan's food legislation considered as restricted trade barrier to imports.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Japan might join the discussions but in the end it will insist on maintaining the status quo on it current protectionist tariffs. At that point the other countries will politely ask Japan to "not let the door hit them in the ass on the way out!" The world no longer needs Japan. The Sout Korean electronics and automobile industries are growing fast and will soon be (many think they already are) on par with Japan. Japan's industry will hollow out to the point where everything in Japan is "made somewhere else" and unemployment will reach double digits before Japan defaults on its massive debt.

Just my prediction ...

0 ( +3 / -3 )

“I hope discussions about TPP will prompt a national debate over how we can rebuild Japanese farming and achieve food safety and sufficiency,” he said in a telephone interview

Actually intelligent thinking on this issue. But wishful thinking none the less. JA is too powerful and has too much interest in maintaining the status quo for any meaningful dialogue, or, god-forbid, needed change.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Geez, they are not joining tht TPP, they are joining the discussion, and they are complaining this much ?

1 ( +3 / -2 )

unwanted publicity. Noda has clearly said that Japan will only DISCUSS TPP with member countries and will PROTECT Japan's vital businesses like agriculture etc...

1 ( +3 / -2 )

slave of china? get real i'd like to see how japan to feed themselves without china

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

Hasty? He couldn't have dragged his feet any more than he did.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

I do hope the TPP is a safe way for Japan to avoid becoming a slave of China. IMHO.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

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