WASHINGTON – Officials from Japan and the United States started a two-day meeting Monday in Washington to advance negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement.
The working-level meeting comes ahead of talks Thursday in the U.S. capital between Japanese economic revitalization minister Toshimitsu Motegi and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
The two sides are expected to focus on each other’s calls for tariff reductions on automobiles and agricultural products, a key issue for bilateral negotiations.
Japan is expected to offer cuts in tariffs on American farm products to levels agreed to under a revised Trans-Pacific Partnership, if the United States agrees to remove levies on Japanese industrial goods, including automobiles.
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