With the Upper House passing the U.S.-Japan trade agreement Wednesday morning, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe achieved one of his most important goals of the current Diet session, and has paved a path for a deal to be ratified on Jan. 1.
In a way, it's an early Christmas gift from Abe to U.S. President Donald Trump, and the latter could use one: He is besieged by the impeachment inquiry, at a stalemate in trade talks with China and has provoked Brazil, Argentina and France in what could devolve into new trade conflicts.
Some political watchers say the new trade deal, which does not require U.S. congressional authorization, will keep Trump satisfied and let Japan off the hook — the U.S. president prefers bilateral agreements over multilateral pacts and is prone to lashing out at allies, whom he accuses of taking advantage of the U.S.
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