P. Scott Shearer, Vice President

April 28, 2014

1 Min Read
No Agreement Reached with Japan to Eliminate Ag Tariffs

After two days of intense negotiations last week, the U.S. and Japan failed to reach an agreement on the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement during President Barack Obama’s visit with Prime Minister Shinzō Abe in Tokyo. 

In a joint statement the two countries said they “have identified a path forward on important bilateral TPP issues” and “there is still much work to be done to conclude TPP.” 

The major issue to be resolved is market access for agriculture and automobiles.  

Prior to President Obama’s trip to Japan, over 60 Congressmen urged the administration to continue to press Japan to eliminate tariff and non-tariff trade barriers for U.S. agricultural products as part of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade negotiations. 

The letter organized by Congressmen Adrian Smith (R-NE), Ron Kind (D-WI), Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), and Jim Costa (D-CA), stated the members’ concern that Japan had not made a comprehensive offer on market access for agricultural goods. 

Japan has been seeking exclusion from the agreement for “sensitive” products, beef, pork, dairy, rice, and wheat. 

The letter stated that excluding certain products from the agreement “could undermine the careful balance of concessions that the other eleven economies have achieved. If Japan is allowed exemptions, other TPP countries could demand similar treatment, and the entire agreement would be at risk of unraveling.” 

The TPP negotiations include the United States, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.  These countries represent nearly 40 percent of the world’s Gross Domestic Product.

 

About the Author(s)

P. Scott Shearer

Vice President, Bockorny Group, Inc.

Scott Shearer is vice president of the Bockorny Group Inc., a leading bipartisan government affairs consulting firm in Washington, D.C. With more than 30 years experience in government and corporate relations in state and national arenas, he is recognized as a leader in agricultural trade issues, having served as co-chairman of the Agricultural Coalition for U.S.-China Trade and co-chairman of the Agricultural Coalition for Trade Promotion Authority. Scott was instrumental in the passage of China Permanent Normal Trade Relations and TPA. He is past chairman of the USDA-USTR Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee for Trade in Animals and Animal Products and was a member of the USAID Food Security Advisory Committee. Prior to joining the Bockorny Group, Scott served as director of national relations for Farmland Industries Inc., as well as USDA’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional Affairs (1993-96), serving as liaison for the Secretary of Agriculture and the USDA to Congress.

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