ID :
165859
Fri, 03/04/2011 - 14:38
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/165859
The shortlink copeid
French trade minister says Japan's aircraft market not open enough
TOKYO, March 4 Kyodo - Visiting French trade minister Pierre Lellouche on Friday welcomed Japanese budget airlines' orders for Airbus aircraft, but said the development is not enough to determine that the Japanese market has fully opened up.
''It is good news...but I must say that the figures (for the orders) are still quite small when considering the principle of free trade,'' the minister of state for foreign trade said in Tokyo, apparently mindful of Boeing's dominance of Japan's commercial jet market.
''So far, it is probably only Israel that is taking such a closed stance similar to Japan in terms of aircraft,'' he added, speaking through an interpreter.
What the European Union sees as the closed nature of the Japanese market, especially in terms of nontariff barriers, has been a major sticking point for Japan and the European Union with regard to the launch of bilateral free negotiations.
''For the European Union and Japan to work together...it is appropriate to reduce barriers as much as possible,'' Lellouche said, calling on Japan to make ''a political gesture'' that would signal a solution to rules on public procurement and other areas.
The minister made the remarks in a joint press conference with Japanese low-cost carrier A&F Aviation Co., which announced in February that it will lease 10 Airbus A320-200 aircraft over two years from this fall. The airline was launched by All Nippon Airways Co. and a Hong Kong investment firm.
In the same month, Skymark Airlines Inc., a Japanese budget airline, signed a deal with Airbus S.A.S. to buy six Airbus A380 superjumbo jetliners, two of them provisional, marking the first such move by a Japanese carrier.
Japan is eager to agree with the European Union on launching free trade negotiations at the upcoming Japan-EU summit meeting in the spring, as it believes that the elimination of EU tariffs on cars and electric appliances would benefit Japanese companies.
The European Union, for its part, is seeking the reduction of nontariff barriers, as Japan's tariffs on industrial products are already quite low.
''It is good news...but I must say that the figures (for the orders) are still quite small when considering the principle of free trade,'' the minister of state for foreign trade said in Tokyo, apparently mindful of Boeing's dominance of Japan's commercial jet market.
''So far, it is probably only Israel that is taking such a closed stance similar to Japan in terms of aircraft,'' he added, speaking through an interpreter.
What the European Union sees as the closed nature of the Japanese market, especially in terms of nontariff barriers, has been a major sticking point for Japan and the European Union with regard to the launch of bilateral free negotiations.
''For the European Union and Japan to work together...it is appropriate to reduce barriers as much as possible,'' Lellouche said, calling on Japan to make ''a political gesture'' that would signal a solution to rules on public procurement and other areas.
The minister made the remarks in a joint press conference with Japanese low-cost carrier A&F Aviation Co., which announced in February that it will lease 10 Airbus A320-200 aircraft over two years from this fall. The airline was launched by All Nippon Airways Co. and a Hong Kong investment firm.
In the same month, Skymark Airlines Inc., a Japanese budget airline, signed a deal with Airbus S.A.S. to buy six Airbus A380 superjumbo jetliners, two of them provisional, marking the first such move by a Japanese carrier.
Japan is eager to agree with the European Union on launching free trade negotiations at the upcoming Japan-EU summit meeting in the spring, as it believes that the elimination of EU tariffs on cars and electric appliances would benefit Japanese companies.
The European Union, for its part, is seeking the reduction of nontariff barriers, as Japan's tariffs on industrial products are already quite low.
