Where Japan's Foreign Policy Meets Agricultural Trade Policy: The Australia - Japan Free Trade Agreement

Agricultural trade policy is a branch of Japanese trade policy where domestic political considerations have traditionally held sway. Recent trends, however, suggest that Japanese policy on Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), including the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Australia, is being directly influenced by the government's foreign policy goals. Despite Australia's standing as a major agricultural exporter that potentially threatens Japan's highly protected agricultural sector, the Koizumi and Abe administrations attached higher priority to several important foreign policy ambitions in agreeing to begin negotiations on an FTA with Australia. These goals were: exercising economic and trade leadership and influence in the Asia-Pacific region, enhancing political relations with long-standing trade partners, and ensuring energy and resource security. Sino-Japanese competition figured as a significant factor in shaping all these objectives.