US farmers call for Japan to be excluded from TPP
Tax News | 06 June 2014
US farmers call for Japan to be excluded from TPP
by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington
United States farming groups are urging that, if Japan continues to insist that it should keep import duties on its ultra-sensitive agricultural products – rice, wheat, beef and pork, dairy products, and sugar and starch – it should be excluded from Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations.
A recent statement from the National Association of Wheat Growers and US Wheat Associates, together with USA Rice Federation, the National Pork Producers Council, and the International Dairy Foods Association, pointed out that "a country cannot shield its primary agricultural products from competition and still claim to be committed to a high-standard agreement liberalizing essentially all goods."
It was added that, according to reports from last month’s TPP Ministerial meeting in Singapore, Japanese Economy Minister Akira Amari has confirmed that Japan will not abolish tariffs in the five agricultural sectors. It was noted that the exemptions demanded by Japan may encourage other countries to withhold commitments regarding their sensitive sectors as well.
Therefore, "while US negotiators still have a chance to push Japan to provide meaningful agricultural market access in the agreement, the alternative is suspending negotiations with Japan if that fails, and concluding a truly comprehensive agreement with those TPP partners that are willing to meet the originally contemplated level of ambition."
It acknowledged that such action would be "a big step," but it considered that it would "be justified if Japan continues to refuse to open its agricultural sector to meaningful competition."
In addition, in a letter on June 3 to the US Trade Representative Michael Froman and the Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, the majority of US dairy farmer cooperatives and dairy processing companies, all of which are members of the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) or the US Dairy Export Council (USDEC), threatened to withdraw support from the TPP talks if Japan, and also Canada, refuse to follow through on pledges to provide comprehensive market access for US dairy products.
"USDEC has been one of the most vocal champions of the importance of including Japan and Canada in [the] TPP since these markets offer strong opportunities for our members to expand US dairy exports," stated Tom Suber, its President. "However, it is critical that their participation in [the] TPP be meaningful and comprehensive across all dairy products. It is entirely unacceptable to have such sizable, sophisticated economies refusing to undertake the necessary openness that they agreed to upon entering [the] TPP."
Jim Mulhern, President and CEO of NMPF, said: "We want to see very strong outcomes on market access with Japan and Canada, and our industry remains prepared to match the level of ambition of those countries. To be successful, any eventual TPP agreement must result in more open dairy markets in Japan and Canada."
In addition to urging US negotiators to remain focused on opening up the Japanese and Canadian dairy markets, members of both organizations also stressed the importance of addressing the impact of New Zealand dairy policies that "have intentionally advantaged a single national champion (Fonterra) at the expense of other competitors."
