JAPANESE ELECTIONS POSE UNCERTAIN AG TRADE RAMIFICATIONS

News Date September 01, 2009

Japan’s Democratic Party (DPJ) has taken a historic victory over the longtime ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in elections this weekend.  The LDP has been the dominant political party in Japan since 1955 and, excluding an eleven month period in the early 1990s, has governed the country since that time. 

The DPJ and Yukio Hatoyama, who is expected to be named Prime Minister later this month, campaigned on protecting Japan from globalization.  DPJ pledged to restore Japan’s stagnant economy through policies that promote less U.S. dependency and more involvement with China, the United Nations, and other Asian countries. 

Japan’s incoming government has said it intends to increase farm subsidies, raise the minimum wage, and promote a child support program that would give parents incentives to have more children to counter Japan’s aging population. 

The DPJ has campaigned on the promise that a American-Japanese free trade agreement  would exclude agriculture.  The protectionist stance of the incoming government could also significantly impact American beef export opportunities in Japan.  Members of Congress along with the U.S. beef industry continue to press for the resumption of full beef exports to Japan.  After the discovery of BSE in the US in 2003, Japan closed its markets to US beef products.  In 2006 Japan began accepting limited imports of beef from cattle 21 months or younger. 

Following the Japanese elections, the White House issued a statement saying, “We are confident that the strong U.S.-Japan Alliance and the close partnership between our two countries will continue to flourish under the leadership of the next government in Tokyo.  President Obama looks forward to working closely with the new Japanese Prime Minister on a broad range of global, regional and bilateral issues.”  (By: Preston Asay, Policy Contact: Amy Mann)