Minister Hagiuda and State Minister Ishii attend G7 Trade Ministers Meeting

Overview of the Meeting

• The G7 Trade Ministers Meeting was held on Friday, October 22, following the meetings in March and in May. Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Mr. Hagiuda Koichi, State Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Mr. Ishii Masahiro and Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Miyake Shingo attended the meeting virtually.
• The G7 Trade Ministers had a lively discussion on issues such as how to address forced labor and market-distorting measures, as well as policy responses taking into account measures regarding climate change and increased digitalization.A Ministerial Statement and two annexes on forced labor and digital trade were adopted following these discussions.
• Below are some of the key points raised by Minister Hagiuda Koichi and State Minister Ishii Masahiro during the meeting.

Comments by Minister Hagiuda

<Forced Labor>

• Eliminating the violation of human rights and forced labor from the supply chain is a crucial issue.
• It is key that G7 partners work together to eradicate forced labor.
• Creating an environment in which businesses can proactively take measures to eradicate forced labor under a level playing field is essential.Thus, it is important to develop international cooperation and frameworks and increase the predictability and transparency of measures taken in each country.

<Market Distorting Measures>

• It is important for like-minded partners to coordinate and address these issues in a rule-based manner.
• Existing rules and frameworks should be implemented and applied to their full potential. When existing rules are insufficient, strengthening disciplines is necessary.The issue of strengthening disciplines on industrial subsidies and state owned enterprises has been discussed in the Trilateral Trade Ministers Meeting among the U.S., EU and Japan.We wish to start these discussions with other like-minded partners as well.

<Digital Trade>

• An open digital market and the substantiation of DFFT (Data Free Flow with Trust), in other words promoting free flow of data through acquiring trust from consumers and enterprises in terms of privacy and security, is important for further development of the digital economy.
• As digital protectionism expands, agreeing to unite on the “Digital Trade Principles” as the G7 and sending out a strong message that we will build an open and trustworthy digital market is a great accomplishment.
• Moving the WTO e-commerce negotiations forward is crucial as a next step.

Comments by State Minister Ishii

<Economic Resilience>

• As the importance of economic resilience increases, given the current situation including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and geopolitics, is it of crucial importance that partners that share common values discuss a vision of the global economic system.
• In order to reinforce global supply chains, we will cooperate with other willing partners to further improve information sharing and increase productivity.
• DFFT (Data Free Flow with Trust) is not only meaningful from an economic aspect but is also important from the perspective of ensuring privacy, data protection and national security.Japan will continue contributing to discussions in this area.

<Carbon Leakage>

• It should be basic policy to encourage the international community as a whole through dialogue so that major emitters of greenhouse gases and emerging economies reduce emissions based on their respective capabilities.
• Thorough international discussion is necessary to determine whether any certain measure is appropriate with regard to the objective of preventing carbon leakage.Each jurisdiction has various ways to tackle climate change, and how to evaluate the burden placed on carbon emissions, including implicit carbon pricing, should be discussed.
• It is essential that the G7, which shares the common ambition of achieving net-zero emissions, move the discussions forward under international cooperation and also involve developing countries to prevent carbon leakage.

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Related Materials

• G7 Trade Ministers’ Communique (PDF:252KB)
• G7 Trade Ministers’ Statement on Forced Labour (Annex A) (PDF:287KB)
• G7 Trade Ministers’ Digital Trade Principles (Annex B) (PDF:305KB)

Division in Charge

• Multilateral Trade System Department, Trade Policy Bureau
• Business and Human Rights Division, Trade Policy Bureau