ASEAN - Japan intends to join trade talks

Japan Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has instructed concerned ministries and agencies to begin preparing to join negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, indicating his intention to announce Japan's participation when he attends a November summit meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Hawaii, government sources said.

The United States and eight other APEC countries are holding talks to reach a basic agreement about the TPP. Noda apparently judged it necessary for Japan to join in the process of compiling rules for the TPP, the sources said.

Agricultural and some other organizations oppose joining the TPP, out of concern that lowering tariffs under the free trade pact could bring a flood of imported products into the domestic market.

Within the ruling parties, lawmakers with ties to farming industries have formed a league and are collecting signatures of TPP opponents.

In the government, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Michihiko Kano has also opposed joining the TPP talks.

Attention will be focused on how the prime minister will persuade opponents. Azuma Koshiishi, secretary general of the Democratic Party of Japan, said Saturday on a TV Tokyo program, "After discussions [within the DPJ], I want the prime minister to be able to send a firm message on Japan's behalf at the APEC meeting."

Koshiishi expressed his intention to coordinate opinions within the DPJ by the APEC meeting, which will be held Nov. 12 and 13.

Noda planned to visit farming households in Gunma Prefecture on Monday, to express his intention to implement measures to improve productivity and thereby strengthen the nation's agriculture.

Noda is considering actions similar to those after Japan liberalized rice imports in the 1993 Uruguay Round trade agreement. At that time, the government implemented measures worth about 6 trillion yen to support agriculture.

Among the measures the government is considering are large-scale fiscal expenditures.

Noda aides have also suggested telling opponents that Japan can leave the TPP negotiations if it decides at some point there would be a negative impact on the nation.

At a summit meeting in September with U.S. President Barack Obama, Noda told Obama Japan would decide as soon as possible whether to join the TPP negotiations.

Noda's leadership to be tested

The lawmakers' league opposing the TPP, led by former Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Masahiko Yamada, had collected signatures from 180 Diet members as of Saturday.

Yamada said most of the signatories are DPJ members, and he will submit the list to the government when the number exceeds 200.

The league plans to organize a large rally soon to urge opposition to joining the TPP.

"We'll fight with firm determination," a senior member of the league said. The member also emphasized the group's intention not to be persuaded by pro-TPP lawmakers.

Former DPJ President Ichiro Ozawa is said to be cautious about Japan joining the TPP.

A Diet member in the Ozawa group said, "Economic partnerships comprising a limited number of countries will divide the world economy into blocs and may cause confrontations among blocs, like those around the time of World War II."

The government wishes to draw on demand in other Asian markets to fuel Japan's economic growth, and believes joining the TPP would aid in that purpose.

DPJ Policy Research Committee Chairman Seiji Maehara and former Secretary General Katsuya Okada are pro-TPP.

Noda will have the DPJ's project team on economic partnership start working this week to reach an intraparty conclusion about the TPP talks before the APEC summit meeting. The team is chaired by former Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yoshio Hachiro.

But the team will likely comprise both pro- and anti-TPP members, such as Okada and Yamada. Thus, bridging the opinion gaps will be difficult and the debates will be a race with time.

To persuade anti-TPP party members, some in the government are considering large-scale fiscal spending to revitalize agriculture. However, some DPJ members have voiced doubt whether the government can find the funding for such measures.

The News Desk

The Daily Yomiuri

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