The APEC meeting last week effectively singled out the EU as the culprit for a possible failure of WTO talks next month, but did not offer any new initiatives. Is it likely that Japan and other APEC will agree to further cuts in agriculture subsidies during the Hong Kong meeting next month?
Japan will probably never become a frontrunner on liberal agricultural policy. But policies are currently under reform here, and general subsidies will be cut back. Furthermore, Japan needs to implement a more industrial and liberal approach towards agriculture because of Asian FTA negotiations anyway. So Japan will likely follow U.S. the stance towards subsidy and tariff cuts for the WTO meeting. It therefore really depends on progress in the EU's position now.