Japan and the United States have reached a broad agreement in trade negotiations, reports said Sunday, with the leaders of both countries expected to hold talks on the sidelines of the G7 summit.
“We saw a great progress,” Japan’s minister in charge of trade talks with the US, Toshimitsu Motegi, told reporters in Washington on Saturday after three days of extended bilateral negotiations with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, agency reports.
“This progress will be confirmed at the Japan-US summit” on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) summit currently being held in France, where how to proceed further will be also discussed, Motegi said.
US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe enjoy close ties but the bullish US president has frequently claimed that Tokyo has an advantage in bilateral trade and has called for a “more fair” relationship. Lighthizer and Motegi agreed Japan will place tariffs on US agricultural products up to levels that apply to members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) pact, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK and major Japanese national dailies reported.
