Posted September 30, 2014
Trade
talks with Japan experienced a bumpy week when both countries blamed the other
for a “stalemate over
farm exports,” according to a Reuters article by Krista Hughes and Linda Sieg
available here.
Wisconsin Ag Connection also published their article here
and Cattle Network here,
and Feedstuffs published an article available here.
On Wednesday, U.S.
Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman and Japanese Economy Minister Akira
Amari met in Washington to discuss bilateral Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP)
negotiations.
“While there were constructive working level discussions
over the weekend, we were unable to make further progress on the key
outstanding issues,” USTR said in a statement, according to Feedstuffs.
The TPP is a regional trade agreement among 12 Pacific Rim
countries, including Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan,
Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam and the United States,
which makes up for almost 40 percent of global GDP.
U.S. pork producers believe the Japanese are to blame for
the halt in negotiations, according to Reuters.
The Japanese have been, and continue to be, holding up the
entire negotiation. They've got to fish or cut bait," said Nick Giordano,
National Pork Producers Council vice president.
U.S. President Barack Obama anticipates a TPP agreement by
the end of the year, but others are not so sure.
"There will have to come a time that the U.S. realizes
that unless they are flexible, they will not have a package, or else they
(negotiations) may continue for an indefinite time," said a Japanese
government source.
At a Friday meeting, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed both sides could do more on TPP, and Biden
said that he would go back to work to find a solution.
For more information on international trade, please visit
the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
