ISDS Case Map
Japan
The Singapore meeting is significant, for several participants in RCEP are keen to wrap up the negotiations quickly, especially since the negotiations have gone well beyond the original deadline of end-2015.
Japan’s Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said on Tuesday that bilateral talks on trade under a new framework led by him and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer won’t begin until mid-June at the earliest.
Tokyo has some work to do to convince the region its strategy is not designed to contain China.
Japan seeks US return to TPP but president unlikely to bend on bilateral deal.
The European Commission put forward a proposed free-trade agreement with Japan for fast-track approval, hoping to avoid a repeat of the public protests that nearly derailed a trade pact with Canada.
The Japan-China high-level economic dialogue on Monday — the first such meeting in about eight years — marked a first step toward resetting a bilateral relationship that has been under strain amid such issues as perceptions of history and deepening economic ties.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is meeting Trump in Florida now. Facing domestic political turmoil, Abe is seeking to achieve something out of the summit. The first and foremost is the 232 steel and aluminum tariff of the US.
Following calls for openness and public participation, the European Commission now advertises its trade negotiations as transparent and inclusive. But crucial information about EU trade deals are still kept from citizens. Even member state governments regularly complain about being left in the dark. At the same time, corporations continue to call the shots on EU trade talks.
The governments of Japan and China stressed the importance of free trade and pledged to accelerate negotiations of bilateral pacts at their high-level economic dialogue in Tokyo on Monday, the first such meeting in eight years.
The US is making a tougher push for Japan to begin talks on a bilateral free trade agreement, exploring demands on foreign exchange policy and exports, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe prepares to visit the country this week.
