Apparently facing farmers’ ire, DPJ backpedals on US FTA
Kyodo News | Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009
Apparently facing farmers’ ire, DPJ backpedals on U.S. FTA
The Democratic Party of Japan plans to revise its proposal for a free-trade agreement with the United States, apparently due to concern over a potential backlash from farmers, top DPJ official Naoto Kan said.
"There was an insufficient section that invites misunderstanding," the acting leader said of his party’s campaign platform at a gathering in Sapporo on Tuesday. The gathering was held ahead of the Aug. 30 general election.
The former health minister then expressed the party’s intention to revise the wording in the platform concerning the proposed trade agreement and to hammer out a clear stance that opposes the lowering of tariffs on imported rice.
The DPJ said in its campaign platform, announced July 27, it will seek to "promote liberalization of trade and investment through the conclusion of a free-trade agreement with the United States."
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party immediately attacked the proposal, saying such an accord would lead to massive imports of farm products that would hammer domestic industries.
DPJ leader Yukio Hatoyama has stressed that the party plans to exempt from tariff cuts rice and other farm products considered important for domestic growers, but some farm cooperatives, including the Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives, have issued statements criticizing the DPJ.
The DPJ made another flip-flop last week when it decided to add to its party platform a promise to set up a legally defined consultative body between the central and local governments.
The National Governors’ Association has been calling for establishment of such a body to promote the decentralization of power to localities.
