ATLANTA – The following is a gist of the main points related to Japan’s trade in the 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement.
Japan will incrementally raise its tariff-free annual import quota for U.S. rice from 50,000 tons to 70,000 tons over 13 years, and for Australian rice from 6,000 tons to 8,400 tons, also over 13 years.
It will incrementally lower its tariff on imported beef from 38.5 percent to 9 percent over 16 years.
As soon as the agreement takes effect, Japan will slash its 4.3 percent duty on imports of high-priced pork to 2.2 percent and its ¥482 per kilogram tariff on low-priced pork to ¥125. After 10 years, the tariff on high-priced pork will be eliminated and that on low-priced pork will be cut further to ¥50 per kilogram.
Japan will cut the markup on government-controlled imports of wheat by 45 percent over nine years.
The nation will eliminate its tariff on imported wine in eight years.
The U.S. tariff of 2.5 percent on Japanese automobiles will start to be incrementally lowered 15 years after the agreement takes effect, halved in 20 years and elimination in 25 years.
The United States will eliminate tariffs on more than 80 percent of auto parts imported from Japan.
Canada will eliminate its 6.1 percent tariff on Japanese automobiles in five years and 6.0 percent duty on close to 90 percent of Japanese auto parts.
TPP members will respect copyright protection for 70 years following an author’s death.
They will set the period for pharmaceutical patent protection at effectively eight years.
Countries will allow foreign companies to sue host governments in an international tribunal over investment disputes.
They will ensure that state-owned enterprises do not discriminate against foreign enterprises, products and services.
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