Farmers welcome collapse of WTO talks; business leaders disappointed

Wednesday 30th July, 02:32 PM JST

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nigelboy at 04:11 PM JST - 30th July

I wouldn't be surprised is Japan tries to promote the idea of, "flooding the market with its own goods while preventing the goods of other countries to penetrate its borders." Sounds like no one in Japan wants 'free trade' at all, only free access to monopolize.

That doesn't explain the decline in self sufficiency rate from 75% during the late sixties to 39% now does it?

And do you even bother to check the average tariff rates on all products from other nations when you make these comments?

While the concept of free trade is good, there are pitfalls as well since there are many grain/food producing nations that have export restrictions. So, it is still important to keep these local farmers.
tkoind2 at 04:18 PM JST - 30th July

Getting tired of companies always winning while little farmers and local business suffer. With the environmental and oil supply issues looming in the next 50 years we had better start rethinking the globalization approach and start restarting local industry and production.

Then maybe more people will take up the much needed production of food in Japan and elsewhere. And maybe we can save the environment a little by having locally provided products and the jobs that go with that production.

Corporations have dominated the rest of us for too long. Time to shift back to local economies.
Speed at 05:01 PM JST - 30th July

I agree with tkoin2. Countries such as the US, which has a humungous advantage in variety and volume of agricultural goods would love to be able to flood the Japanese market with their goods.

"Globalization" and "free markets" sounds wonderful if you have a very large relative advantage than your competitors.

Japan's self-sufficiency rate has declined to about 39%, like nigelboy has written, and opening up their market any further would erode this even further. Not to mention the countryside emptying out even further.

Japan would do well for itself to maintain and strengthen their protectionist policy for their endangered yet vital industries. "Protectionism" has been equated with being a bad word and "free-trade" with being good, in the last 30 years, but I don't buy it.
westurn at 05:08 PM JST - 30th July

Yo speed... gear down !

"Countries such as the US, which has a humungous advantage in variety and volume of agricultural goods would love to be able to flood the Japanese market with their goods."

Do you have any idea how many consecutive years Japan has had a trade surplus with the USA ??? Bilions of dollars worth mind you ! Soi where do you come off with such a ridiculous statement ? Based on what ???
smithinjapan at 05:29 PM JST - 30th July

Nigelboy: "While the concept of free trade is good, there are pitfalls as well since there are many grain/food producing nations that have export restrictions. So, it is still important to keep these local farmers."

Nowhere did I say I thought the farmers were not important; on the contrary, I was making a stab at the fact that the government always laments the lack of self-sufficiency that you yourself pointed out, while said government does NOTHING to help the problem or promote the values of farming. Hell, look at the fishing industry problem (most countries subsidize at least a part of the industry to help in such situations.... Japan has to panic even to come up with aid!). As such, I pointed out that all that are left are the old people willing to do the work, and for little or no reward (except for the reward of the task itself, and the goods they get themselves from doing it).

Anyway, again, I was taking a stab at the government, so to speak, and pointing out much of what you said; but at the same time I was saying that I HATE the way farmers here are incredibly happy to charge an arm and a leg for local products when the actual goods are so much cheaper, and are more readily available from other countries. It reminds me of when the idiot former Foreign Minister (Taro Aso) thanks China for the poison gyoza because it helped promote (ridiculously overpriced) domestic foods.

The business want to sell Japanese goods world-wide, while the farmers want to limit the produce market to their own overpriced goods. Can't have your cake and eat it too, I say.
JackDorff at 06:33 PM JST - 30th July

Surely there is no need for Japan to maintain tariffs on rice. The local produce is indeed so popular and foreign produce so often criticised, that rice from overseas would fail at the supermarkets here. Japanese rice would continue to be bought while the US and South East Asian brands would remain on the shelves untouched.

Let the market tell us if the vocal aficionado of Japanese rice has actually been making a rational point, or just been full of merde all these years.
Speed at 09:20 PM JST - 30th July

Do you have any idea how many consecutive years Japan has had a trade surplus with the USA ??? Bilions of dollars worth mind you ! Soi where do you come off with such a ridiculous statement ? Based on what ?

Having a trade surplus and and having a relative advantage in being able to produce commodities at a much cheaper price are two different things. Nothing ridiculous in what I wrote.
westurn at 09:47 PM JST - 30th July

"Having a trade surplus and having a relative advantage in being able to produce commodities at a much cheaper price are two different things."

But America has always had this "relative advantage" and has never exploited it ! So why the attack on America ? Your criticisms are unfounded, a fantasy, as your concerns have never occured... in fact the opposite has as Japan has simply closed its door to US products while insisting on complete access to America ! Now that's ridiculous !
jaybeeb at 09:48 PM JST - 30th July

tkoind2 is spot on. These "more rationalised production methods", as one poster above called them, are highly unsustainable. Japan needs to get serious about domestic food production.
Bovinus at 09:50 PM JST - 30th July

Of course Japan wants to protect itself. This is not so different to the US subsidising farmers with 'bailouts' or saving investment banks who dug their own holes.

Everyone seems to think free trade is great but at a more local level, refuse to follow the rules.
usaexpat at 11:10 PM JST - 30th July

I'd be happy too if I was a farmer be that in Japan or any other developed nation. See the real reason these talks broke down wasn't just demands of the US and Japan, China argued that their farmers need to be protected as well. In this instance you have a country who claims to be a "developing" nation and yet with their cheap labor even they feel the need to protect their farmers from even cheaper labor or product dumping by large corporate farms overseas. Local food production is good for the environment, good for people's health, and good for sovereignty and national security. The WTO is about handing the cheapest materials and products to multinational corporations so they can rake huge profits. The global economy has really only been good for CEOs and speculators not your average worker or for that matter 3rd world peasant. We need to scrap the WTO and allow countries to construct their own mutually beneficial bi-lateral trade agreements as it used to be before the whole damn world was sold off on the cheap to global giants.
Good_Jorb at 11:45 PM JST - 30th July

With Japan having only 6.1% in total tariff, the farmers (or any business) aren't living in some huge bubble of protection.

As for farming;

EU exporting to Japan;

http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/agrista/tradestats/2007/tradeeu27sem/aggqtyexppage011.htm

EU importing from Japan;

http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/agrista/tradestats/2007/tradeeu27sem/aggqtyimppage011.htm

Not hard to tell which trading body benefits more from farming trade.

Surely there is no need for Japan to maintain tariffs on rice.

Yes, Japan should import more rice, when there is an apparent world rice storage. So the Philippines, India and etc. can compete with Japan for rice and all the nice price increases that will go along with that. It is within Japan's best interest given the current global trends to protect the domestic farming of staple goods for both there own interests and others.

in fact the opposite has as Japan has simply closed its door to US products

Really? Which products? Why hasn't America taken Japan to WTO for arbitration like they did with Canada and China?
ca1ic0cat at 01:38 AM JST - 31st July

All of the major countries are trying to protect farmers. Europe has the CAP, the US has all sorts of subsidies and tariffs, Japan has the same, so does China. I'm told Korea has some too but I'm not sure about that.

The breakdown of this round of talks is a disaster more for the third world countries who need access to first world (and second world, China) countries for their products so that they can pull themselves out of poverty. It's a problem for first world consumers as they have to pay more for basic commodities like food. The only people who benefit from this are farmers. In the US that's really large agrobusiness. I don't know how "farming" works in Japan.

Just think, we pay them to do this to us.
theneworder666 at 02:18 AM JST - 31st July

Typical Japanese, just think of themselves individually and not the whole population.

There are people that can barely afford to eat decent food, at the vastly inflated prices charged.

Do the Japanese farmers and government ever lok after the poor? I don`t think so.
tclh at 05:26 AM JST - 31st July

I think the farmers will be very happy with free trade if in the end they can have incomes of those CEO of major companies! I find that in free trade,if a country protects only some sections(doctors,lawyers,dentists...) of its community but let open for foreign competition to other sections (manufacturing workers,farmers,engineers..),this practice will increase injustice,sufferings for many.For example,if you are a manufacturing worker,your income have to come down so the company can compete with things "made in China, India" ,but when you need a service from a dentist in your country,you will be charged an arm and a leg!Same for farmers in free trade,that is why they don't like it.