TOKYO, Feb. 4, 2019 — The timing is exotic and interesting for Japan to host this year’s G20 summit, scheduled for the western city of Osaka in June. Blundering it, Japan’s position as the world’s third largest economy could be seen as one of the lowest of OECD countries and even its Asian neighbors would treat it as one of many.
First off, U.S,, European and Asian countries are closely watching, with some expectations and skepticism, how the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe coordinates the fallout of Trump-Xi summit in March, no matter whether the U.S. raises tariffs further on Chinese products or reach some kind of compromise.
Abe’s next undertaking, which should be equally important in the long run, is the reform or repairing multilateralism under the World Trade Organization. It’s a tall task that should require several years to work out a framework but a good head start is needed as soon as possible, or otherwise, the United States under Trump may roar ahead to pursue bilateralism, as he did with Japan last year to start negotiations this year. That would endanger multilateral trade and economic regimes the world has worked so hard to make as the global benchmark in the 1980s.
Japan stands on solid ground in persuading the United States to continue supporting multilateralism as a leading member of the now-ratified 11-member Trans-Pacific Partnership — in which Washington is not a member — and the Japan-EU economic partnership agreement (FTA). U.S. farm produce producers including beef are reportedly expressing concerns about the TPP-11’s adverse impact on U.S. exports, understandably, as Australia is set to benefit a lot from the trade agreement with lower Japanese tariffs to the dismay of U.S. farmers. And effective February 1, 2019, European product prices were slashed sharply.
Toshio Aritake
More details by the East Asian Forum can be found at the following: