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Japan has been notoriously late in joining the "bilaterals bandwagon". Until the latter part of the 1990s, the government hedged most of its bets on multilateral negotiations as a means of opening up foreign markets to Japanese corporate interests. However, Japan is increasingly suffering the loss of market shares that FTAs between other countries produce. Because of NAFTA, for example, Japan felt an acute need for its own treaty with Mexico so that its products benefit from the same tariff levels on the Mexican market as those coming in from the United States.
Until recently, Japan focused its bilateral negotiating agenda on a few countries around the Pacific. Major deals have been signed with Singapore (2002), Malaysia (2004), Mexico (2004), Philippines (2006), Indonesia (2007), Chile (2007), Thailand (2007), ASEAN as a whole (2008) and Vietnam (2008). In mid-2006, Tokyo announced the start of FTA talks with Brunei and these were wrapped up in 2007. Japan’s deals with both Brunei and Indonesia are unique because they guarantee Tokyo access to oil and gas supplies. In mid-2006, Japan went so far as proposing an overarching East Asian FTA encompassing Japan, ASEAN, India, China, Korea, Australia and New Zealand. ASEAN, among others, gave this idea a cool response. In 2007, negotiations with India and Australia began, while somewhere down the pipeline, China, Korea, Cambodia and Laos are also on the agenda. Other countries are further targets creeping into Japan’s bilateral trade agenda:  In early 2005, Japan started exploring possible talks with Switzerland, and the actual negotiations started in 2007.
In 2006, spurred by concerns about access to energy resources, Japan moved towards kicking off talks for an FTA with Kuwait and other oil and gas-rich Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
There are also growing concerns about trade disadvantages for Japanese firms on a wider international scale, leading to FTA overtures towards Brazil, South Africa, New Zealand and even some wishful talk of a US-Japan deal.The deals put forward by Japan are called "Economic Partnership Agreements" (EPAs), as the government holds that the term "free trade agreement" doesn’t capture the broader integration of economic and social policies that these treaties aim to achieve between the partner countries. But these EPAs are similar in coverage to a typical FTA from the US, New Zealand or the EU, if less ambitious on the content. last update: April 2009 Articles
Mongolia, Japan vow to boost partnership
| 30-August-2010
Mongolia hopes to move its comprehensive partnership with Japan to a new level, said Mongolian President Tsakhia Elbegdorj on Monday.
Japan-Korea: Free trade talks
| 22-August-2010
The Japanese government needs to take steps to make an FTA more attractive to Korean industries, says the Asahi Shimbun
Kan team vows ’active’ FTA hunt
| 28-July-2010
Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan and other ministers affirmed Tuesday they will actively seek free-trade agreements, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Masayuki Naoshima said.
Japan: New ambassador to China urges FTA
| 27-July-2010
The new ambassador, a former chairman of Itochu Corp., acknowledged that an FTA with China would face strong opposition from farmers but said Japan needs to strengthen the international competitiveness of its protected agricultural products.
Japan aims to finalize EPA with Korea by 2014
| 10-June-2010
Japan’s new cabinet is reportedly aiming to cement financial ties with Korea by concluding an Economic Partnership Agreement or EPA by 2014.
Japón pide control sanitario a productos agrícolas para avanzar en TLC con Colombia
| 6-May-2010
La negociación del Tratado de Libre Comercio (TLC) entre Colombia y Japón dio un gran paso en el sector agropecuario.
Japón interesado en iniciar negociaciones TLC con UE, aunque es prematuro
| 30-April-2010
El ministro nipón de Asuntos Exteriores expresó hoy a su homóloga comunitaria el interés de Japón por iniciar negociaciones para un TLC con la Unión Europea.
Japan, EU remain apart on FTA
| 27-April-2010
Japan and the European Union are unlikely to agree on the possible launch of a joint study of a free-trade agreement when leaders meet in Tokyo on Wednesday, sources said.
Tokyo-Seoul FTA cornerstone of E. Asia community
| 13-April-2010
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has recently said that there are three key policy issues in the area of diplomacy that he intends to tackle while he is in office. One of them is signing a free trade agreement with South Korea. 
Japan and Papua New Guinea agreed Monday to launch negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty, Japanese government officials said. |
Le stand de l’UE à la conférence sur le sida "saisi" par des militants défenseurs des génériques
| 21-July-2010
Statement by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on the U.S.- South Korea Trade Agreement
| 30-June-2010
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