石塚幾太郎 · @kakuma1875
21st Jun 2013 from TwitLonger
日本のTPP参加承認は、8月下旬になるとInside US Trade紙報道（全文）
Inside U.S. Trade - 06/21/2013
U.S.-Japan Market Access Talks In TPP Not To Begin Until Late August
Posted: June 20, 2013
Japan's participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which will formally begin next month, will likely get off to a slow start for two key reasons, one of which is the inability of the United States to engage in market access talks until at least late August.
Under the Trade Act of 1974, the U.S. will be prevented from making any tariff offers until the International Trade Commission (ITC) has completed a confidential assessment on the economic impact of tariff cuts. The report is due to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on Aug. 21. The U.S. will not table any tariff offers until the report is received and USTR has performed interagency and congressional consultations, according to a USTR spokeswoman.
The second factor stems from the fact that Japan will only participate in TPP for roughly two and half days in the round scheduled to be held from July 15-25 in Malaysia. Informed sources said Tokyo will get to participate starting the afternoon of July 23, when a 90-day consultation period between the Obama administration and Congress concludes.
Sources said the round was initially scheduled to end on July 24, but current TPP countries agreed to extend it by one day to July 25, as a courtesy to Japan. On July 25, TPP negotiating groups will not formally meet, and negotiators will devote the day to familiarizing Japanese officials with the text, they said
Once Japan starts participating in the Malaysia round, it will gather information on the progress of each negotiating group and possibly explain its basic positions in each negotiating area, a Japanese official said. "We will not be in a position to comment on the text; at best what we can do is explain our basic position in each area," the official said.
Japan will not make any textual proposals during the July meeting, he said. The real work of developing a negotiating strategy will occur after Japanese officials return to Tokyo, where intense discussions will take place on what positions to stake out in the talks, the official said.
An observer in Tokyo said there is an expectation that Japan's initial market access offer to TPP members will not define tariff reductions on sensitive agricultural items including rice, dairy and beef. But according to the terms of Japan's entry into the talks, these sensitive items cannot be excluded from being subject to requests from other TPP participants.
Japan will likely make offers on market access for goods, services and government procurement to TPP members shortly after the July round, a Japanese official said.
Parallel to TPP, the U.S. and Japan have committed to holding negotiations on automobiles and non-tariff measures. These will begin after Japan formally joins the TPP negotiations, according to Japanese officials.
However, the two sides have not yet finalized a schedule for those parallel talks, which on the Japanese side will be coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, an official said. A U.S. private-sector source suggested that USTR is still defining its position for these talks as it has been reaching out to stakeholders for input.
Observers this week said any delay in market access negotiations with Japan, which is expected to be the most contentious element of Japan's participation in TPP, makes the prospects more and more dim for concluding a deal in the near term.
Japan had pushed to participate in the July round, even if only for a few days, to show voters in an upcoming July 21 upper house election that it is moving forward with substantial engagement in TPP. Sources in Tokyo said the Liberal Democratic Party wants to show the government will be substantively engaged in the talks, especially ahead of the elections where the party hopes to cement its control over the Japanese Diet.
One observer said it would reflect poorly on the government in the elections if it was known that Japan would not be participating in the talks as soon as it could, especially after it agreed to a number of concessions in order to join the talks. In an agreement with the U.S., Japan agreed that it would not make any upfront exclusions for sensitive items and also agreed to a potentially lengthy phaseout period on U.S. automobile tariffs. -- Adam Behsudi