日米貿易協定、４日に国会承認　参院委可決、デジタル協定も

　安倍政権が今国会の最重要課題と位置付ける日米貿易協定承認案が３日の参院外交防衛委員会で自民、公明両党と日本維新の会の賛成多数で可決された。４日の参院本会議で可決、承認される。今国会最大の懸案が処理され、焦点は野党が内閣不信任決議案を提出するかどうかに移る。
　同協定は、安倍晋三首相とトランプ米大統領が９月の会談で合意。日本は環太平洋連携協定（ＴＰＰ）の自由化水準内で農産物市場を開放し、米国は工業品の関税を撤廃・削減する。自動車・同部品の関税撤廃は今後の交渉対象となった。日米は２０２０年１月１日発効を目指す。主要野党は自動車関税の扱いが先送りになったことに反発、承認案に反対した。

　日米間の電子商取引などのルールを定めるデジタル貿易協定案も３日の参院外交防衛委で可決、４日の本会議で承認される。（2019/12/03-17:10）

The Diet, Japan's parliament, is set to give its approval to a recently signed Japan-U.S. trade pact on Wednesday.
   On Tuesday, the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee of the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet, passed it by a majority vote with support mainly from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, Komeito.
   The ruling pair plans to put it to a vote at an Upper House plenary meeting on Wednesday. The House of Representatives, the lower chamber, approved the pact last month. The Japan-U.S. trade deal, signed in October, is one of the most important items for the government and the ruling coalition for the current extraordinary Diet session, which is slated to close next Monday.
   Under the pact, Japan will lower its tariffs on U.S. beef and pork to the same levels as those it promised under the Trans-Pacific Partnership multilateral free trade agreement, which went into force late last year. The United States will abolish or cut tariffs on industrial products from Japan.
   The Japanese and U.S. governments hope to put the bilateral pact into effect next month.