[KYODO, AFP-JIJI | June 22, 2016 | Japan Times]
Japan does not plan to rework the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal despite U.S. presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton’s suggestion Tuesday that she may try to renegotiate it, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Hagiuda said on Wednesday.
“We are not going to accept any request from the United States, even if it asks us to renegotiate over the TPP,” he told reporters.
Hagyuda said renegotiating even part of the accord that was agreed in February would harm it.
“I hope all member countries, including the U.S., will carry out domestic procedures with responsibility,” he said.
He called for early approval by Congress.
The Japanese government aims to approve TPP at an extraordinary Diet session this autumn.
On Tuesday, Clinton also said Republican rival Donald Trump’s plan to scrap trade deals could start “trade wars.” She said the agreements should instead be renegotiated if they do not benefit American workers.
Clinton said Trump would send the U.S. economy back into recession, warning his “reckless” approach would hurt workers still trying to recover from the economic turbulence stemming from the 2008 global financial crisis.
Clinton’s address in Ohio, an important swing state, sought to define Trump as little more than an economic con man, whose ignorance and ego would tank the global economy, bankrupt Americans and risk the country’s future.
