Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held the third meeting of the Industrial Competitiveness Council at the Prime Minister's Office.

Discussion took place on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement.

The Prime Minister said in his address,

"I visited the United States and held a Japan-U.S. summit meeting with President Obama on February 22. I would like to declare confidently that through this summit meeting, we have restored the bonds of friendship and trust between Japan and the U.S., which had become markedly damaged over the past three years, and that the close Japan-U.S. alliance has been fully revived.
Regarding the economic policy, I explained the "three prongs" of the Abe Cabinet, which President Obama welcomed, and he expressed his expectations for strong leadership. Thus, we shared the recognition that the revival of the Japanese economy is meaningful not only for both countries but for the world.
As for TPP, we thoroughly discussed it including its significance and the situation within each country, and issued a joint statement.
Over the course of the election campaign, I pledged to the Japanese people that we will not participate in the TPP negotiations as long as the precondition for participation is the commitment to eliminate tariffs with no sanctuary. However, through this meeting with President Obama, it became clear that the elimination of tariffs with no sanctuary is not a precondition for TPP.
In the meeting with the President, I also mentioned from my side the five criteria for judgment on participation that we have been presenting.
Based on the results of the Japan-U.S. summit meeting, I would like to judge the best way in terms of national interests as early as possible as the Prime Minister, by also obtaining opinions from you today for reference.
I would like to hear your frank and candid opinions today."