Japan To Remove Tariffs On 95.1% Of Imports Under TPP Pact

TOKYO, JAPAN - OCT. 20: The Japanese government said Tuesday it will eventually remove tariffs on 95.1 percent of farm, industrial and other imported products in value terms under the recently sealed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact. The figure compares with the abolition of duties on "nearly 100 percent" of imported items under the free trade deal reached by 12 TPP members including the United States, Canada and Australia, said Akira Amari, the economy minister in charge of TPP negotiations. The level, however, tops the 88.4 percent in bilateral free trade accords Japan has reached respectively with the Philippines and Australia, the highest tariff removal among its existing free trade agreements. The extent of Japan's tariff elimination under the TPP, which covers 40 percent of the global economy, is lower than that of the 11 other members as duties on some sensitive farm products will remain. Among 586 such products, about 30 percent will eventually become tariff-free. Tokyo, on the other hand, will immediately remove tariffs on 95.3 percent of industrial products imported from TPP nations, while the duties TPP members impose on 86.9 percent of such products exported from Japan will be eliminated once the pact is implemented, government officials said. "This is a well-balanced agreement," Amari said at a press conference, shrugging off concerns that domestic farmers may face intense competition from cheaper foreign produce as Japan already relies heavily on imports of the agricultural items that will become tariff-free. The other TPP members are Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
TOKYO, JAPAN - OCT. 20: The Japanese government said Tuesday it will eventually remove tariffs on 95.1 percent of farm, industrial and other imported products in value terms under the recently sealed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact. The figure compares with the abolition of duties on "nearly 100 percent" of imported items under the free trade deal reached by 12 TPP members including the United States, Canada and Australia, said Akira Amari, the economy minister in charge of TPP negotiations. The level, however, tops the 88.4 percent in bilateral free trade accords Japan has reached respectively with the Philippines and Australia, the highest tariff removal among its existing free trade agreements. The extent of Japan's tariff elimination under the TPP, which covers 40 percent of the global economy, is lower than that of the 11 other members as duties on some sensitive farm products will remain. Among 586 such products, about 30 percent will eventually become tariff-free. Tokyo, on the other hand, will immediately remove tariffs on 95.3 percent of industrial products imported from TPP nations, while the duties TPP members impose on 86.9 percent of such products exported from Japan will be eliminated once the pact is implemented, government officials said. "This is a well-balanced agreement," Amari said at a press conference, shrugging off concerns that domestic farmers may face intense competition from cheaper foreign produce as Japan already relies heavily on imports of the agricultural items that will become tariff-free. The other TPP members are Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
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Editorial #:
493841090
Collection:
Kyodo News
Date created:
20 October, 2015
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Clip length:
00:02:37:06
Location:
Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan
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QuickTime 8-bit Photo-JPEG HD 1920x1080 29.97p
Source:
Kyodo News
Object name:
15-10-20-1-4.mov