Australia's then Prime Minister Tony Abbott speaks with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a trilateral meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama (not pictured) at the G20 leaders summit in Brisbane November 16, 2014. REUTERS/Ian Waldie/pool
Tim Kelly, Cyril Altmeyer and Colin Packham, Reuters: How France sank Japan's $40 billion Australian submarine dream
In 2014, a blossoming friendship between Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe looked to have all but sewn up a $40 billion submarine deal. Then French naval contractor DCNS hatched a bold and seemingly hopeless plan to gatecrash the party.
Almost 18 months later, France this week secured a remarkable come-from-behind victory on one of the world's most lucrative defense deals. The result: Tokyo's dream of fast-tracking a revival of its arms export industry is left in disarray.
Interviews with more than a dozen Japanese, French, Australian and German government and industry officials show how a series of missteps by a disparate Japanese group of ministry officials, corporate executives and diplomats badly undermined their bid.
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WNU Editor: The Japanese thought they already had the deal, but the French and Germans realized that they did not, and the deal maker was on the issue of Australian jobs. This is a surprise .... the Japanese are the ones who have the reputation of making tough deals, but it looks like this reputation is no longer deserved.
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