When Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visits the White House this week, President Obama should offer him a warm welcome — and a friendly challenge. Right now, the United States is negotiating a historic trade deal with Japan and 10 other countries on the Pacific Rim, and one of the key remaining issues is whether Japan will open its agriculture and auto markets to U.S. products. While Abe is in town, the president should urge Japan to drop the trade barriers and close the deal.
This trade agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, would give a boost to both of our countries. The TPP would tear down trade barriers that block U.S. exports to many Asian markets. This is a big opportunity for the United States. By 2030, Asia’s middle class will have grown to 3.2 billion people. That’s more than 10 times the projected size of North America’s middle class. If we want to create more jobs in the United States, we need to make more things in the United States and sell them overseas — to Asia, especially.
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