Abe vows to take on Japan's farmers over trade pact

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made an impassioned pitch for a Pacific Rim trade deal before the US Congress, calling for its rapid conclusion and pledging a "quantum leap" in reforms including taking on his country's powerful farm lobby.

Mr Abe's push on Wednesday came as the US Congress prepares for divisive votes on trade in the weeks ahead that are considered crucial to concluding the Trans-Pacific Partnership, in which the US and Japan are the biggest of a dozen players. The TPP would cover some 40 per cent of the global economy and be the most significant trade agreement sealed in two decades.

The US and Japan have for more than 18 months been engaged in tortuous parallel negotiations over opening up their respective markets that have focused on automobiles and agriculture. For both Mr Abe and Barack Obama, the US president, that has meant taking on powerful industry lobbies, members of their own parties and core political constituencies such as labour unions.

The two sides did not announce any major breakthrough in those negotiations this week, though Mr Abe said on Wednesday that the "goal is near".

As a young politician who was "like a ball of fire" he had once joined farmers' protests and opposed opening up Japan's agricultural sector to greater competition, Mr Abe said. But times had changed.

"Japan's agriculture has gone into decline over these last 20 years," he said. "In order for it to survive, it has to change now."

"Japan is right in the middle of a quantum leap," Mr Abe said. "We have regained our spirit of reform and our sense of speed. Japan will not run away from any reforms."

The unspoken message of Mr Abe's speech was that it was now time for the US Congress to do its part and grant Mr Obama the "fast-track" authority he needs to close the deal. The legislation would give Congress a simple up-or-down vote on the TPP and guarantee to Japan and other TPP countries that it would not seek to amend any deal the Obama administration reaches.

Legislation to grant the president what is formally known as "Trade Promotion Authority" last week passed through key committees of both houses of Congress with strong support. Votes by the Republican-controlled full chambers of both houses are expected in the coming weeks with both Republican congressional leaders and the administration confident they can muster the support needed.

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"The politics around trade can be hard in both our countries, but I know that Prime Minister Abe, like me, is deeply committed to getting this done and I'm confident we will," Mr Obama told a news conference on Tuesday.

Mr Abe told Congress the economic case for the TPP was strong. But he also pitched it as a way for the US and Japan to bolster their influence in the world.

"We can spread our shared values around the world and have them take root: the rule of law, democracy, and freedom. That is exactly what the TPP is all about," he said.

"It is also about our security," he added. "Long-term, its strategic value is awesome. We should never forget that."

That strategic argument, focused mainly on the TPP as a way to respond to the economic rise of China, has started to gain greater currency in Washington in recent weeks, particularly as Beijing has garnered support from traditional US allies for its planned Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

Japan and the US are now the two biggest economies not to have joined the AIIB.

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