International Trade committee  Well, in a nutshell, an EPA will have direct advantages for certain trade products. But the biggest advantages will be indirect and will be things downstream. In general, it will be seen as a catalyst for an improvement in relations. It will be all over the newspapers and in the

International Trade committee  There must be one roadblock, and I'm trying to think which one it is. Agriculture in Japan is very unequal. Some issues are very critical and will not move forward, and one is rice. Rice will be a big issue. I think Australia has some rice, so that would already be a killer.

International Trade committee  What I was told by members of Parliament with whom I spoke last fall was that at this point, there is no major, targeted opposition to this EPA. First, there is no identified product that will be a major red flag. Second, Canada has a relatively positive image in Japan and doesn'

International Trade committee  Yes, that's a difficult issue. That is structural. That will take time. One idea that would come to mind is improving investment from Japan into Canada. Typically, a fast way or a way that's quite direct in increasing more value-added exports is to invite the Japanese manufacture

International Trade committee  This question of conglomerates, the so-called keiretsu, is an old one. This has been a critical component of U.S.-Japan negotiations since the early 1980s. In fact, back in the mid 1980s the U.S. and Japan had a big struggle over exactly the same problem, which blocks access for

International Trade committee  Good morning, Mr. Chairman, honourable members of Parliament. It's a great pleasure to be here. I am presenting here as an academic, as someone who has a lot of time and experience studying Japan—the Japanese political economy—but not representing any larger interest. What I'm