The government of recently inaugurated Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has been under increasing U.S. pressure to join a Pacific Rim-wide free trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) that includes the United States, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Noda has been publicly receptive to the idea, saying in September that he would join TPP negotiations and proceed aggressively with other free trade discussions. However, Noda has faced stiff opposition to the initiative, both from domestic lobbies that do not want to see increased foreign competition and a trend in the Japanese population toward an internal focus. Thus, despite its benefits — and a strong push by the United States, which has its own reasons for wanting Japanese economic liberalization — Japan is unlikely to join the TPP or any free trade agreement in the near future.