Japan to Oppose New Trade Barriers at WTO

Tokyo, Dec. 15 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government plans to urge members of the World Trade Organization to set no new trade barriers, such as higher tariffs and subsidies, in order to block protectionism that could be exacerbated by the global economic downturn, it was learned Monday.

Japan will stress that the fight against protectionism should be
given priority at a meeting of the WTO's Trade Negotiations Committee in
Geneva on Wednesday, informed sources said.
Japan will take the step after the WTO decided not to convene a
ministerial meeting by the end of the year, virtually ending the chance for
WTO members to reach broad agreements on the Doha round of global trade
liberalization negotiations.
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso said in a statement Monday that
Japan will urge WTO members to refrain from increasing new trade barriers.
Japan hopes that the pledge against protectionism made by the Group
of 20 leaders at a financial summit in Washington in November will extend to
the WTO's 153 members.
The G-20's pledge includes refraining over the next 12 months from
introducing new barriers to investment and trade in goods and services,
imposing new export restrictions, or implementing WTO-inconsistent measures
to stimulate exports.
The Japanese government initially planned to propose a rule that
would make it mandatory to report to the WTO when raising tariffs, but gave
up on the plan because it expected opposition from developing countries, a
government source said.