Bilateral
talks between Japan and the United States held as part of negotiations on a
Pacific trade pact ended without an agreement on Monday, with Japanese
Economics Minister Akira Amari saying that gaps still remained between the two
sides.
U.S.
and Japanese differences over agricultural tariffs are one of the major hurdles
facing the 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and time is running out
to find a way forward at the latest round of talks which wrap up in Singapore
on Tuesday.
“There
are still considerable gaps between the positions of Japan and the United
States,” Amari told reporters.
“But
discussions are deepening,” Amari said, adding that, the two sides agreed to
continue efforts at the working level to try to narrow the differences.
Amari
said that at this stage, no minister-level talks between the United States and
Japan had been set for Tuesday.
Asked
about the prospects for an in-principle agreement on the overall TPP talks,
Amari said the talks had not yet reached a consensus.
He
added, however, that there were some areas where there has been a convergence,
adding that various bilateral negotiations had also been moving forward.
The
TPP, which will cover around 40 percent of the world’s economy, aims to set
common standards on a range of issues from regulation to labor and
environmental protection.
But
trade officials from the 12 nations involved in the talks have made it clear
many of the final hurdles involve more concrete trade barriers such as tariffs
on imported goods and caps on imports of sensitive goods.
Japan,
which has tried to protect its rice, wheat, beef and pork, dairy and sugar from
outside competition, is in particular focus as farmers in big agricultural
exporting nations push for elimination of all tariffs.
Monday’s
talks were the second set of bilateral talks between Japan and the United
States since the four-day TPP talks began in Singapore on Saturday.
Negotiators
are hoping that a draft deal can be ready by the time U.S. President Barack
Obama visits the region in April.
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