ISDS Case Map
Japan
Japan's Kyodo News agency reports that the Japanese government apparently sees an expected visit to Tokyo by President Lee Myung-bak as a chance to resume stalled talks on a free trade agreement.
Japan is eager to strike an economic partnership agreement with South Korea
Business leaders urged the Japanese government Wednesday to open up the nation's market by joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact by June so industries can benefit from the strong consumption power in the United States and emerging economies.
Japan's prime minister Naoto Kan said he will focus this year on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement and will seek the overhaul of Japan's agricultural sector that would be required to join the pact.
Japan and the US are making preparations to hold bilateral talks in Washington in mid-January on Tokyo's possible participation in negotiations for an expanded trans-Pacific free-trade pact, sources said Wednesday.
The European Union is set to clear the final legal hurdles to a free trade agreement with South Korea, putting pressure on Taiwan and Japan to strike similar deals with Brussels.
Japan's joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership would not bring an immediate end to tariffs protecting domestic farmers, who would still be able to receive some kinds of government support, former US Trade Representative Clayton Yeutter tells The Nikkei.
Japan has given up the idea of sending senior officials to the upcoming round of negotiations for a US-backed multilateral trans-Pacific free trade agreement, to be held in New Zealand from Monday, a government official said Friday.
Free trade agreement (FTA) talks among China, Japan and the Republic of Korea could start in 2012 as the countries try to reduce reliance on the United States and the European Union, Yi Xiaozhun, vice-minister of commerce, told China Daily.
The APEC summit in Yokohama was a key event by any standard. For many Japanese, however, one issue overshadowed all the rest, and it didn't even take center stage: the Trans-Pacific Partnership, discussed by leaders of nine of the countries on the summit's sidelines.
