Preview

MGIMO Review of International Relations

Advanced search

US-Japan Trade Relations Amid the Globalization Crisis

https://doi.org/10.24833/2071-8160-2020-5-74-55-77

Abstract

Abstract: Relations between Japan and the United States have shown significant changes in recent years. Although the main attention has been focused on the strategic and military aspects of these relations, mutual trade and investment, related policies and regulation at­tract more of the attention of the political elites of the two countries.

The tensions between the two countries on this issue have a long history. However, they greatly intensified since President D. Trump moved into the White House. The 2019 trade negotiations and the conclusion of a limited trade agreement between the two countries did not result in a comprehensive settlement of conflicting approaches and stands on spe­cific issues. The rising confrontation between the United States and China amid the spread of novel coronavirus epidemic in early 2020 alleviated tensions over Japan-US trade issues by temporarily removing them from the focus of attention of the US presidential administra­tion. Nevertheless, soon they will again become hot issues in the agenda of bilateral rela­tions in the larger context of the US trade policy.

In Japan, fears are growing that long-term shifts in the worldview and attitudes of the American political elite pose new threats and create new difficulties for realizing Japan's interests. Of greatest concern is the erosion in the mind of the US elites of the established commitment to further liberalize global and regional international trade and investment through multilateral agreements and institutions. Trump administration’s policy versus main trade partners has shifted towards working out and revising bilateral agreements designed to make American foreign trade more manageable and balanced, and it well may represent part of a long-term change and continue irrespective of the outcome of the US presidential election.

The changes that have occurred in Japan-US relations regarding mutual economic ties confirm the general tendency of the international trade and investment system to become more fragmented, shifting from multilateral global and regional platforms to ad hoc agree­ments with clearly defined national goals and priorities.

A possible change of political leadership in both countries will not change these processes, which reflect both the characteristic features of the world perception by national elites and the objective interests of influential business groups. At the same time, trade and invest­ment policy is increasingly affected by non-economic factors, mostly “national security” con­siderations. This increases the role of diplomatic maneuvering and other levers and forms of influence in regulating trade and investment flows, and business environment for national and multinational companies.

About the Author

V. G. Shvydko
The Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation

Vitaly G. Shvydko - Candidate of Economics, Head of the Japanese Economy and Politics Research Group, Center for Asia-Pacific Studies

Moscow



References

1. Dmitriev S.S. 2018. Predskazuemo nepredskazuemaya torgovaya politika – SShA protiv vsek [Predictably Unpredictable Trade Policy – the US against Everyone]. Contours of Global Transformations: Politics, Economics, Law. 11(2). P. 113-132. DOI: 10.23932/2542-0240-2018- 11-2-113-132

2. Emelyanov S.V., Chudinova K.O. 2017. Torgovo-Ekonomicheskie Otnosheniya SShA i Yaponii [Trade and Economic Relations between the United States and Japan. International Trade: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow]. Moscow: Rusyns.

3. Portansky A.P. 2018. Tramp razrushaet slozhivshiesya pravila i printsipy mirovoi torgovli [Trump is Destroying the Established Rules and Principles of World Trade]. International life. №6. Р. 7-18.

4. Portansky A.P. 2019. Imperativ reformirovaniya VTO v epokhu rosta protektsionizma i torgovykh voin [The Imperative of WTO Reform in an Era of Rising Protectionism and Trade Wars]. Bulletin of international organizations: education, science, new economy. 14(2). P. 304-318. DOI: 10.17323/1996-7845-2019-02-12.

5. Rodrik D. 2019. Imperativ reformirovaniya VTO v epokhu rosta protektsionizma i torgovykh voin [A Frank Conversation about Trade. Ideas for a Smart Global Economy]. Moscow: Publishing House Of The Gaidar Institute.

6. Yemelyanov E.V. 2018. Vneshnetorgovyi kurs Donal'da Trampa: plany i realii [Donald Trump's Foreign Trade Policy: Plans and Realities]. International trade and trade policy. 14(2). P. 73-82. DOI: 10.21686/2410-7395-2018-2-73-82


Review

For citations:


Shvydko V.G. US-Japan Trade Relations Amid the Globalization Crisis. MGIMO Review of International Relations. 2020;13(5):55-77. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.24833/2071-8160-2020-5-74-55-77

Views: 1996


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.


ISSN 2071-8160 (Print)
ISSN 2541-9099 (Online)