US-Japan trade deal is victory for Abe, not Trump
Donald Trump may be famous -- among other things -- for his book "The Art of the Deal." But last week Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe schooled the obsessively transactional U.S. president on how a real deal is done.
With Chinese trade talks in tatters, U.S. farmers fuming over tariffs and impeachment now a live threat, Trump was desperate for a win on the global stage. Any win would do. Abe’s team exploited Trump’s anxiety and time pressures to score an artful dodge for Asia’s number-two economy.
Trump can claim negotiating supremacy all he wants, but Abe pretty much gave him only what Barack Obama got back in 2016 when he was president.
Don’t take my word for it. As Wendy Cutler, a key negotiator of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, tweeted: "Glad to see our President calling the Japan trade deal ‘phenomenal.’ Has anyone broken the news that it’s amazingly similar to the provisions and market access commitments of TPP!!"
The #minideal hashtag trending on Twitter said it all. The pact on agriculture, notes Tobias Harris of strategic consultancy Teneo Intelligence, is "for the most part the same with TPP." Notable exceptions include rice, where the pact is in Japan’s favor. The digital trade opening -- which lowers levies on transmitted videos, music and software -- mirrors TPP, while cuts in industrial tariffs here and there mean little pain for Abe’s economy.
Japanese farmer harvests rice with a combine harvester: notable exceptions include rice, where the pact is in Japan's favor. © Getty Images
So far, the trade team led by Toshimitsu Motegi, now Abe’s foreign minister, has quietly but firmly got the better of Trump’s. In August, Motegi told Lighthizer: "You are the ones who want a quick agreement. I'm only offering things I can deliver on."
Days later, China’s move to retaliate with $75 billion of tariffs on U.S. goods played right into Tokyo’s hands. Team Trump blinked, dropping demands for low-tariff quotas on dairy and other products beyond what Japan accepted under TPP.
This slimmed-down deal matters, of course. Trump gets to tout selling more beef, cheese, corn, pork, wheat and wine: in theory, the pact reduces tariffs on $7.2 billion of agricultural goods. Abe gets Trump off his back for a while -- and wins a key bargaining chip. When Trump needed a victory the most, his pal Abe delivered.
Yet the accord, cobbled together in extreme haste, ignored the most contentious question: whether Trump will go ahead with 25% import taxes on cars and auto parts. It is less than comforting that U.S. officials qualified reassurances there was no plan to devastate Japan Inc. with the words "at this point."
AP - Nov 26
Top diplomats from Japan and China met for bilateral talks Saturday as they try to resolve disputes including China's ban on Japanese seafood that has badly hit Japanese exporters.
Reuters - Nov 25
Japan passed on Friday an extra budget worth around 13.1 trillion yen ($88 billion) aimed at helping households cope with the rising cost of living and corporations boost domestic investment, even amid concerns over the country's worsening finances.
News On Japan - Nov 23
Japan hosted the "Self-Defense Forces Joint Exercise," from October 10, attended by the Japan Self-Defense Forces (SDF) and the U.S. military. JNN reports on Japan's only elite unit, the 1st Airborne Brigade, during their training.
The Diplomat - Nov 23
Japan’s biggest defense company, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), has outlined plans for future growth through development investment in new major national defense projects, including standoff missiles and a joint next-generation fighter program with Britain and Italy.
NHK - Nov 22
North Korea's space agency says the country has launched a rocket carrying a military reconnaissance satellite and put it successfully into orbit.
Kyodo - Nov 22
A Japanese health ministry panel on Tuesday decided to ban HHCH, a synthetic cannabinoid, from Dec. 2 after many people who consumed gummies containing the compound had to go to the hospital.
dailymail.co.uk - Nov 22
The home of the US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel became the target of anti-Semitic vandals over the weekend who spray painted the word 'Nazis' on a fence outside his house in Michigan.
CNA - Nov 21
Japan has condemned the seizure of a Japanese-operated cargo ship by Yemen's Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, south of Israel.
AOL - Nov 19
Daisaku Ikeda, a former leader of Japan's influential Buddhist group Soka Gakkai, has died at the age of 95.
News On Japan - Nov 18
Edogawa Ward in Tokyo, which has the highest incidence of bicycle thefts in the city, announced the installation of 80 surveillance cameras in bicycle parking areas at private condominiums and other locations.
CCTV Video News Agency - Nov 18
Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in San Francisco of the United States on Nov. 16, reaffirming the positioning of comprehensively advancing the strategic and mutually beneficial relations between China and Japan.
eurasiareview.com - Nov 18
Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s inaugural two-day visit to Malaysia heralded a new strategic bulwark of defence and security criticality.
News On Japan - Nov 16
A car crashed into the barricades near the Israeli Embassy in Tokyo on Thursday morning, injuring a police officer.
NHK - Nov 15
Wednesday marks 46 years since a 13-year-old junior high school girl was kidnapped by North Korean agents.
NHK - Nov 14
Japan's government has approved the resignation of State Minister of Finance Kanda Kenji, who repeatedly failed to pay taxes for his company.
NHK - Nov 14
An NHK opinion poll shows the approval rate for the Cabinet of Japan's Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has fallen below 30 percent for the first time since he took office two years ago.