Japan free trade deal unlikely to mean IT price cuts

Vendors and disties have told CRN that the new Japan-Australia free trade agreement will not automatically lead to a reduction in prices for ICT equipment, despite the removal of tariffs on electronics.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced the successful conclusion of negotiations for the Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement (JAEPA) last week while visiting Japan.  The agreement includes the cessation of a 5 percent tariff on electronics.

"Made-in-Japan products occupy about 80 percent of all Fujitsu PCs sold in Australia," Fujitsu's head of marketing Robin Tang told CRN.

"Any reduction brought about by the removal of import tariff will make the Fujitsu PCs more attractive, although it is unlikely to bring the prices within the range of similar products manufactured in countries like China."

Tang said that Fujitsu's enterprise customers "understood and accept a premium for Japanese-manufactured computing products".

A Panasonic Australia spokesperson told CRN that it's early days and therefore it was "not in a position to comment".

CRN also sought comments from Hitachi, Toshiba, and NEC but did not receive a response at time of print.

Several disties told CRN that the FTA would have no impact on pricing of ICT goods.

Ingram Micro's spokesperson Michelle Primmer said the company does "not see this having an impact to our business".

Eric Howarth from NEC displays distributor Image Design Technology had no opinion on the Japan FTA as "Korean displays now dominate business for us".

Dicker Data marketing and communications manager Ben Johnson declined to comment on the FTA saying "all of our products are sourced locally". The distie's Japanese vendors include Fujitsu, Sony, Toshiba and TDK.

Negotiations for the Japan-Australia deal had been on for seven years and the agreement is expected to be formally signed when Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe tours Canberra in July.

A free trade agreement with South Korea (KAFTA) was signed by trade and investment minister Andrew Robb with his South Korean counterpart Yoon Sang-jick last Tuesday in Seoul.