SAMURAI DEBT: Japan ratifies "dead" TPP treaty

11.11.2016
Japan

Japan’s House of Councillors, which wields authority concerning international documents, has ratified the TPP. This means that even if it is not adopted in the upper chamber, then its ratification will still be valid for 30 days, after which the TPP must be ratified by the other participating country.

Defeat of Shinzō Abe

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been calling on MP’s not to delay ratification in order to be ahead of the US elections. In this case, the departing Democratic administration in the US would be able to put the treaty into effect. However, the parliament, the majority of which belongs to Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party, has already waited until the elections. Formally, the process has started to proceed. Nevertheless, everyone understands that now it will lead nowhere.

A “dead" agreement

The new US president, Donald Trump, is an opponent of this agreement as are, indeed, most of the citizens of the participating countries. Mass protests against the ratification have yet to end in Peru. Malaysia and Singapore have postponed the TPP for an indefinite period, stating that the treaty is already dead. South Korea has stressed that even without this agreement, it has a free trade area with the majority of the countries.

Possible future

Some representatives of the current authorities of both Japan and the United States continue to expect that the exiting Obama Administration will have time to ratify the agreement. The head of the Senate majority, Mitch McConnell, warned that this possibility is excluded. He also added: “This, of course, will not happen this year”.

The TPP has more than bleak prospects in the following years.

Related links
The TPP and TTIP are likely to Fail?
Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA): A World-System Analysis
TTIP and TPP: Arc of the Neoliberal Order
What Is Obama Up To, With His TPP and TTIP? What Will Remain of Local National Governments?
Understanding The Risks of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
Japan
TPP
ratification
United States