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EU and Japan create world's biggest free trade zone

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Re: EU and Japan create world's biggest free trade zone

#301

Post by superpermutat0r »

pawelmurias wrote: post #273
superpermutat0r wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GMOs, together with massive animal agriculture are a black swan in the making. Let's modify the organisms, create billions of them, have them as a testing ground for bacteria and viruses, let the bacteria and viruses evolve to eventually kill the resistant individuals, then after it happens we need 10 more years until more than a thousand billion individuals produce a human targeting strain. There is absolutely no sc…

How is raising GMO animals more risky? Or do you think the EU should mandate farming boars instead of pigs?

If you genetically modify animals to have a stronger immune system there's going to be a natural pressure for stronger bacteria.

Just like giving animals antibiotics to spur their growth is riskier than not.

Re: EU and Japan create world's biggest free trade zone

#302

Post by 52-6F-62 »

tareqak wrote: post #216
TorKlingberg wrote: post #22

Japan has avoided the madness of tariffs and trade wars that has affected the west recently. Instead they have been quietly negotiating trade deals with everyone and generally getting along. Good on them! Also it includes cheese, which will make westerners in Japan very happy.

Canada has been doing the same [0]. A lot of effort does end up getting spent on managing relations with the U.S. which overshadows achievements elsewhere. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_trade_agreements_of_Canad...

We started to. Then we got caught up in the spat with the US. And now China. I’d say we’re out. :(

Re: EU and Japan create world's biggest free trade zone

#303

Post by marak830 »

TorKlingberg wrote: post #22

Japan has avoided the madness of tariffs and trade wars that has affected the west recently. Instead they have been quietly negotiating trade deals with everyone and generally getting along. Good on them! Also it includes cheese, which will make westerners in Japan very happy.

Oh I didn't know about the cheese. You have just made my wife and I very excited!

We have noticed a few things (kiwi fruit for example), becoming a lot cheaper lately(heck lopia had 12 for 600 yen last month!)

Re: EU and Japan create world's biggest free trade zone

#304

Post by freetime2 »

ascar wrote: post #275
athenot wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cheese (at least in France) is not a topping but something consumed after the main course (and with bread). I could see a donbury followed by some mild cheeses. Perhaps stronger cheeses might even go with bonito flakes or other dried fish products. I'm sure some experimentation in pairing could yield some interesting results.

That's probably only France, where cheese after meals is common. While it's frequently used as a topping in Italian cousine, it's nearly exclusively eaten on top of slices of (dark) bread as a standalone dish in German cousine (though Germans eat a lot of Italian food). The most American use of cheese (i.e. not Italian cousine related) is maybe the cheese flavored corn-snacks (e.g. cheetos).

Cheese is often consumed as "otsumami" (a snack meant to be paired with alchohol) in Japan. It is eaten standalone [1], mixed with fish [2], or as a flavor in junk food [3].

These products are incredibly common in Japan and can be found at any super market or convenience store in the country. Japan loves cheese too... just not as much as Europe or the US.

[1] https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0084X5UBE/

[2] https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00LBWPLVE/

[3] https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B079SBWPL3/

Re: EU and Japan create world's biggest free trade zone

#305

Post by azernik »

lozenge wrote: post #217
max76 wrote: post #136

"For the first time, the trade agreement includes countries' Paris climate deal commitments." This is a brilliant answer to the tragedy of the commons. Often times people ask why they should make great efforts to be more environmentally friendly when other groups are not. This creates multiparty incentives attached to real economic benefits to keep their word on climate change. I hope The US, China, and Russia all en…

Hardly. The countries already made these non binding commitments, there is still no penalty for breaking them, and they bear no resemblance to what would be required to stay below 1.5C or 2C (the supposed headline achievement of Paris). They were not negotiated on either - they are just what each country has said it would do.

There is technically a penalty, but it's unlikely to be enforced - if one party breaches their commitments, they could be considered in breach of the agreement and the other party would have license to break it.

Re: EU and Japan create world's biggest free trade zone

#307

Post by matt4077 »

repolfx wrote: post #283
matt4077 wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody ever said it wasn’t. See the famous Barnier Diagram from the very start of negotiations: https://goo.gl/images/AqyD7w Note the Canadian flag on the far right (pun imtended). It was one of the options on offer.

No, it wasn't. The EU is not insisting that parts of Canada obey EU law automatically and are effectively different countries as a result, which is what it's currently demanding of the UK. Nor did the EU demand tends of billions of euros from Canada in return for nothing in particular. The EU has actually never been willing to discuss trade deals with the UK, let alone "let's be like Canada". So far it's refused enti…

The billions are not arbitrary, but to settle obligations arising from the UKs past membership, such as pensions for their EU personell.

You obviously know that and are pretending to be ignorant, considering it was all over the news at the times.

Re: EU and Japan create world's biggest free trade zone

#308

Post by malloryerik »

hinkley wrote: post #222
hkmurakami wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still remember how horridly expensive cheese was in Japan. This is excellent news.

One of the weird, nearly constant cultural boundaries is fermented foods. I suspect even without the tariffs cheese will still be expensive in Japan. It doesn't really 'go' with a lot of the cuisine. I mean, if you handed me donburi with cheese in it I'd probably say, "Okay, that's weird but it could work so let me try it," but I'm wracking my brain trying to think what other dishes you could fit in it. Certainly eth…

There is some excellent cheese made in Hokkaido. I especially like their Brie-ish cheeses. You can even pick them up in the Sapporo airport.

Re: EU and Japan create world's biggest free trade zone

#309

Post by malloryerik »

hippich wrote: post #43

While lack of tariffs is nice, as a small-time seller, complying with all these VAT, taxing rules (Germany added new requirement in 2019 to obtain some kind of new tax certificate which is not related to VAT certificate) makes it quite complicated from compliance point alone. But I guess it represents general attitude towards business in europe. Not sure how it is like in Japan. [edit] What I mean is that it is all f…

Encouraging small businesses to trade internationally should be a focus of trade deals.

Re: EU and Japan create world's biggest free trade zone

#310

Post by xxpor »

sonnyblarney wrote: post #96
dmix wrote: post #21

Canada recently made a trade deal with the EU as well. Our country (Canada) hasn't been pushing harder enough for this IMO, considering how greatly we benefitted from NAFTA it should have been our top policy objective for the last couple decades. Modern countries would rather get lost in decades long mega-deals with 1000 conditions for every political crony connection / special-interest group ever than get an actual…

80% of CDN exports go to the US and so a deal with the EU won't be creating that much value. We trade a lot with China otherwise. "There are still so many things that are ridiculously expensive in Canada for no rational (long term) benefit to either party assuming it was a real market" This is because Canada has what some might describe as an inefficient economy, ruled by a small cabal of oligarchic players. We have…

>80% of CDN exports go to the US and so a deal with the EU won't be creating that much value

Yeah, but what about after the deal? It makes sense that pre-free trade, there wouldn't be as much business.

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