If Japan joins the U.S.-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade agreement and tariffs on highly protected farm products are lifted, it would greatly benefit consumers by boosting imports and lowering product prices, a point often overlooked amid recent intensifying debates, experts said in a recent panel discussion.
They added, however, the question is whether the government can find the financial resources to compensate farmers who are likely to be most affected by the agreement.
"Many people say it is good that the current surplus increases and bad that imports increase. But that's not true," economist Nobuo Ikeda said during a Friday discussion in Tokyo, where experts from various fields both for and against the TPP gathered to discuss the controversial trade pact.
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