JAPAN’S parliament yesterday approved a trade pact with the United States that opens the country’s markets to American beef and other agricultural products, as Tokyo tries to thwart a threat from Donald Trump to impose new tariffs on its lucrative car exports.

The deal cleared a last hurdle with approval from Japan’s upper house, clearing the last hurdle. The United States has been pressing for the agreement to come into force by Jan. 1, which could help Trump land votes for his 2020 re-election campaign in agricultural areas that may benefit from the deal.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party coalition holds majorities in both houses of parliament and was able to win passage easily. The deal has nevertheless been criticized by opposition lawmakers, who say it gives away bargaining chips without a written guarantee that Trump won’t impose tariffs as high as 25 percent on Japan’s auto sector.

Trump was eager to make a deal with Japan to appease U.S. farmers whose access to the Chinese market has been constrained as a result of his trade war with China. American agricultural producers, also reeling from bad weather and low commodity prices, are a core component of Trump’s political base.

The threat of punitive tariffs on the exports of cars and car parts, a US$50 billion-a-year sector that is a cornerstone of the Japanese economy, pushed Abe to accept two-way trade talks with the United States after he failed to persuade Trump to return to a Pacific pact he had rejected.

Abe has said Trump assured him when they met in New York in September that he wouldn’t impose fresh tariffs. Under the current deal, Japan is set to lower or abolish tariffs on U.S. beef, pork, wheat and wine, while maintaining protection for its rice farmers.

The United States will remove duties on Japanese exports of some industrial parts.

(SD-Agencies)