The Future of U.S.-Japan Trade Relations
This was recorded on July 21, 2021.
About this event
A Conversation with Ambassador Koji Tsuruoka and Mr. Glen S. Fukushima moderated by USALI faculty director, José E. Alvarez
Asia is now at the center of global trade flows as well international treaty negotiations to address them. This is a rare opportunity to hear from two of the world’s foremost authorities on the trade relations between two of the economic superpowers in the region. Ambassador Koji Tsuruoka, one of Japan’s most distinguished diplomats, is the former Japanese ambassador to the UK and the former chief negotiator for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Mr. Fukushima, now at the Center for American Progress, is the former president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan and the former deputy assistant US trade representative for Japan and China. Among the issues to be addressed are the ways in which Biden’s trade policies are likely to differ from those of his predecessor and whether the US should seek to enter the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and/or a US-Japan FTA.
About the Speakers
Glen S. Fukushima is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, a Washington, D.C. think tank. From 1990 to 2012, he was a senior executive based in Asia with one European and four American multinational corporations and was elected President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan. From 1985 to 1990, he served in Washington, D.C. as Director for Japanese Affairs (1985-1988) and Deputy Assistant United States Trade Representative for Japan and China (1988-1990) at the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), Executive Office of the President. He has served on numerous corporate boards and government advisory councils in the United States, Europe, and Japan. His publications include The Politics of U.S.-Japan Economic Friction, awarded the 9th Masayoshi Ohira Memorial Prize in 1993. Mr. Fukushima was educated at Stanford University, Harvard Business School, and Harvard Law School and was a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Tokyo.
Koji Tsuruoka served the Japanese government for 43 years and his last posting was as ambassador to the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2019. Prior to his appointment to the UK, Tsuruoka was chief negotiator for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement and deputy foreign minister and personal representative of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at G8 and G20 summits. Tsuruoka’s expertise includes public international law, which led him to represent Japan in the whaling case at the International Court of Justice. On trade issues, he was chief negotiator for services trade in the Uruguay Round and took part in drafting the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). He represented Japan in numerous trade negotiations with the US in the 1980s including NTT Procurement, Port Labor, and Insurance. Tsuruoka represented Japan in many UN conferences including General Assemblies. He was actively engaged in the management of UN Agencies including UNHCR, UNDP, and UNICEF. He also led the Japanese delegation to many diplomatic negotiations, including UN Conference on Climate Change, as well as APEC meetings, and ARF. He is a graduate of Tokyo University Law Faculty and received his LLM from Harvard Law School. He is currently President of International Affairs Research Institute, a think tank advising the Government.