WASHINGTON, April 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman on Thursday urged Japan to open its agricultural and automotive markets as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade talks stalled in the recent months.
"It's time for Japan to step up to the plate," Froman told the House Ways and Means Committee during a hearing on President Barack Obama's 2014 trade policy agenda, which aims to conclude the TPP free trade talks between 12 Asia Pacific countries this year.
Froman said that Japan must put all sectors on the table, especially agriculture and autos, adding that "all eyes are on Japan to make sure they provide market access."
"We're reminding Japan what it and all TPP members agreed to when they joined TPP that this is intended to be a high-standard, ambitious comprehensive agreement," said Froman.
The United States wants Japan to open its market for sensitive agricultural products like rice, beef, pork and diary, while Japan hopes to keep import duties in place for those products. The country's rice industry sees tariffs of more than 700 percent on foreign imports.
Despite multiple rounds of bilateral meetings between the United States and Japan, the two sides failed to make significant breakthrough over the market access of agriculture and autos in Japan.
Dave Camp, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said the United States might conclude a TPP agreement this year with other participants excluding Japan, if Tokyo failed to agree to the terms. "If Japan's not ready, then maybe it's time to move forward without them," he said.
U.S. officials had hoped to complete TPP trade negotiations by the end of last year, but the representatives from the 12 participating countries failed to reach a deal in last December. TPP negotiations stalled again in February amid disagreements between the United States and Japan.
The TPP talks were initiated by Singapore, New Zealand, Chile and Brunei Darussalam in 2005, but dominated by the United States after it joined the talks in 2008. Japan joined the TPP talks last year.
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