Japan holds out for multilateral trade approach with U.S. in new talks

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Top U.S. and Japanese trade officials said they better understood each other’s positions after talks on Thursday, while Tokyo appeared to stick to its position of avoiding a bilateral free-trade agreement. “We had a frank exchange of views and deepened mutual understanding,” Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters after several hours of meetings with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, which he said would continue on Friday. Read more here.