Condensed from “Japanese Ruling Party Divided Over Asia-Pacific Free Trade Plan,” copyright the Asahi Shimbun, which was published in the Cambodia Daily, Oct. 25, 2010. All text below is copyright the Asahi Shimbun.
[Japanese Prime Minister Naoto] Kan is expected to pursue Japan's participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership at next month's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Yokahama.
[T]he prime minister appears determined to put Japan at the forefront of negotiations to form the trans-Pacific free trade area. A Cabinet minister close to Kan says he fears Japan's economy will sink unless Japan goes for it.
The TPP is a regional economic trade initiative [which includes Singapore, New Zealand, Chile, Brunei, the United States, and seven other countries]. US President Barack Obama reportedly wants to reach an accord by fall 2011.
The farm ministry [in Japan] predicted in 2007 that if all tariffs were lifted, Japan's food self-sufficiency would fall from 40 percent to 12 percent because almost all rice would be replaced by imports.
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