Japan eyes quotas for low-, no-tariff farm imports

01/02/2015 12:00 - 477 Views

TOKYO -- In a bid to advance negotiations on the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, Tokyo is thinking about suggesting quotas for low- or no-tariff imports of key agricultural products from participating countries, government sources told The Nikkei on Saturday.

Under the "TPP quotas," as the sources referred to them, Japan would specify the volumes of items such as beef, pork, dairy products and rice that it is willing to accept without charging regular duties. It would apply higher tariffs on anything over the caps.

Japan hopes this would prevent a flood of imports and help to win over domestic farmers -- staunch opponents of free trade. Beyond the TPP quotas, the government intends to individually set reduced duties and safeguards against import surges for each item.

Take beef, for example. Each year, Japan imports a total of roughly 500,000 tons of beef, most of it from TPP participants Australia, the U.S. and New Zealand. The government plans to set this amount as the TPP quota for beef that can be imported at a reduced tariff -- below the current 38.5%.

As part of last-ditch efforts to bring the TPP negotiations to a successful conclusion, Japan is in talks with the U.S. to cut beef tariffs to around 10% over a period of 10 years or more. This reduced rate would likely apply to other TPP countries as well.

A higher duty would then be slapped on any beef that crosses into the country in excess of the quota.

As for pork, Japan would likely set the quota at around 500,000 tons to 600,000 tons. Currently, the U.S. and Canada account for over 60% of the 760,000 tons of pork Japan imports annually.

Source: Nikkei