While a great deal of political and media attention is focusing on what the Trans-Pacific Partnership might mean for Japan's agricultural sector, less is being devoted to how it could impact investor-state disputes and copyright laws, two controversial areas that present a growing challenge to forging the trade accord.
The United States and some other TPP members are pushing to include an Investor-State Dispute Settlement clause in the multinational trade liberalization treaty. This would make it easier for corporations registered in TPP member nations to sue another member if its legislature enacts laws the company claims are negatively impacting its business.
For example, if the Japanese government were to enact stricter environmental regulations and the Osaka-based factory of a firm registered in a TPP country found it could not meet the new rules and was forced to shut down because of the additional costs, an ISDS clause would, critics argue, allow the company to sue Japan to reclaim its losses.