Shinzo Abe accueille Obama: ce qu'ils ont dit et ce que ça signifiait (POLITICO)

Obama et Abe n'avaient aucune grande entente à offrir aux journalistes hier, mais cela ne signifie en rien que leurs déclarations officielles étaient insignifiantes. Il faut analyser leurs propos à la lumière des négociations entourant "Trans-Pacific Partnership".

Un exemple:

 What Abe said: “We will choose the path in the best interest of the country, but we also hope to conclude the talks in a favorable way.”

What he meant: I’m not bluffing, either. There’s not a chance I’ll give the United States everything it wants.

Translation: Home-grown rice plays a special role in Japanese culture. A few other farm products, like beef, pork, milk and wheat, also enjoy “sacred” status there. Abe could never get the country to embrace a trade deal that undermined that heritage.

Two key points here:

 First, Abe is already forcing Japan’s huge population of very small farmers to consolidate and modernize by revamping the country’s agricultural subsidy programs. It was a politically painful move, but one he could sell as necessary to keeping food prices down. Those reforms kept Japan’s agricultural sector in business — but farms there still often can’t beat U.S. prices without protective tariffs.

Second, Japan’s legislature is somewhat similar to the U.S. Senate. Lawmakers are chosen to represent districts that aren’t necessarily similar in population. So, rural members often wield outsize influence — and they’re ready to fight Abe over TPP.

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/04/what-obama-and-abe-said-what-they-meant-105978.html?hp=l3