Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi expressed dissatisfaction Tuesday with a World Trade Organization draft report on the liberalization of nonfarm trade, saying calls for the elimination of tariffs on certain products are unacceptable.
Kawaguchi also complained that the draft, presented by the WTO on Friday, has not adopted a tariff-cut formula proposed by Japan.
"There are two areas that do not reflect Japan's proposals," Kawaguchi said at a regularly scheduled news conference.
She said the draft does not allow flexible, item-by-item tariff cuts.
The document, prepared by Pierre-Louis Girard, chairman of the WTO's nonfarm trade negotiations, urges across-the-board tariff cuts as proposed by the United States and the European Union, and proposes a formula that would slash tariffs on products with higher tariffs by bigger margins.
The liberalization of nonfarm trade is part of the Doha round of trade talks under the WTO.
Kawaguchi said the draft includes calls for the elimination of tariffs on marine products, leather and footwear, which are unacceptable to Japan.
Japan will continue negotiations patiently in the hopes that its proposals will be reflected in the liberalization of nonfarm products, she said.