Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tuesday Japan's national interests are protected under a trade agreement with the United States but he vowed to prepare measures to address the concerns of farmers in the country before the pact takes effect.
"Because rice, which is important to our country, was exempted from tariffs cuts, it is an outcome that protects our national interests," Abe said during a meeting in Tokyo of senior editors from Kyodo News member newspapers.
"We will take sufficient measures...by the end of the year to deal with worries among farmers," Abe said.
Earlier in the day, Abe instructed his Cabinet ministers to come up with steps to boost the competitiveness of Japanese farm products before the trade pact enters into force, likely on Jan. 1.
Japan and the United States reached a bilateral deal last week to cut tariffs on farm products and industrial goods, capping five months of negotiations that began with Washington threatening to impose higher levies on Japanese auto imports on national security grounds.
The pact, which needs parliamentary approval, will see Japan reduce its tariffs on beef, pork, cheese and wine among other items, helping appease U.S. farmers and producers feeling disadvantaged by foreign rivals in what is now an 11-member revised Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact. U.S. President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the original pact in 2017.
Although Japan failed to secure the scrapping of existing U.S. auto tariffs with a specific time frame, it won a concession from the United States over rice. Japan will not offer the United States a no-tariff quota for American rice.
Japan's stance has been to promote multilateral trade arrangements such as the TPP.
Negotiations are under way to create an Asia-wide trade area under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership among 16 countries with an eye to concluding them this year.
"I will lead the negotiations that are nearing an end to realize an ambitious pact that can build common economic rules for a new era," Abe said.
Japan is among the 16 countries that also include China, South Korea, India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Abe also touched on domestic affairs during his speech as Japan raised the consumption tax rate on Tuesday from 8 percent to 10 percent to use part of its revenue to achieve his goal of enhancing child care support.
Abe said the biggest challenge for the remainder of his term as president of the Liberal Democratic Party and thus prime minister until 2021 is to address Japan's aging society and declining birthrate.
As social security costs are expected to swell further in the years ahead, Abe expressed hope to "expand options" as to the timing for elderly people to start receiving pension benefits.
The Abe administration has been seeking to promote social security reform and make society more attuned to the needs of the elderly on the premise that people live to 100 years or longer.
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