US, Japan to begin trade talks

Trump made announcement after meeting Japanese PM

Abe said the United States will hold off on threatened tariffs on Japanese autos while the negotiations are underway.

The proposed agreement will cover goods, and other key areas including services, that can produce “early achievements.”

In other major topic, Abe credited the U. S. president with a “major transformational change” in relations with North Korea

United Nations, Sept. 27: The United States and Japan announced Wednesday they will open negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement between the world’s first — and thirdlargest economies.

It’s a significant shift by Tokyo which has been a strong advocate of a multination trans- Pacific trade pact that President Donald Trump withdrew from soon after taking office. The move won Japan relief from the immediate threat of punitive tariffs on its auto exports to the U. S.

Trump made the announcement after meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. He said that Japan had been unwilling in the past to enter into such talks, but now is and such a deal “will be something very exciting.”

Abe has cultivated close ties with Trump since after his 2016 election but trade relations have been difficult, since the Republican president withdrew from the 12- nation Trans- Pacific Partnership, or TPP, that had been negotiated by the Obama administration and championed by Abe despite considerable domestic political opposition in Japan.

The Trump administration, pushing to narrow the U. S. trade imbalance with Japan, has since imposed steel and aluminum tariffs on its ally. Imposing higher tariffs on auto imports that would have escalated trade tensions significantly.

A joint statement said that the United States is seeking more access to the Japanese auto market and that the Japanese won’t go beyond any previous commitments to open their protected agriculture market. “It’s a line in the sand” from Japan, said Ted Murphy, a partner at the law firm Baker McKenzie. “You guys think auto are important. We think agriculture is important.”

The statement also adds that the two sides will make efforts” to resolve differences over U. S. tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.