United States and Japan move forward on trade talks

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/united-states-and-japan-move-forward-on-trade-talks/2013/04/12/258bfe0a-a382-11e2-9c03-6952ff305f35_story.html


Toru Hanai/REUTERS - Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Japan and the United States have agreed on a deal to allow Tokyo to join talks on a U.S.-led Asia-Pacific free trade pact that Abe is making an element of his strategy to open Japan's economy.

Japan has agreed to hold talks about opening its automobile market and offered minor upfront concessions in a move that clears the path for the country to join broader U.S. free-trade negotiations.

The deal announced Friday by U.S. and Japanese officials will have little immediate impact on an auto market that is notoriously tough on foreigners. Japan agreed, for example, to increase from 2,000 to 5,000 the number of autos in different size classes that can be imported under a streamlined “preferential” customs process. That pales, however, next to the $2 billion or so worth of autos that Japan ships to the United States each month.

Still, U.S. trade officials said the agreement marked an important show of faith on Japan’s part that would allow more extensive bilateral talks with the United States about autos and other trade problems and open the way for Japan to join the 11-nation Transpacific Partnership discussions.

“We have an amazing opportunity .?.?. to address issues that have been long-standing and that have been of deep concern” to the U.S. auto industry, said Mike Froman, President Obama’s chief adviser for international economic issues. Along with autos, the Japanese agreed to some other immediate steps the United States requested as a precondition for Japan joining the TPP.