07/24/2013
Washington, D.C. - United States Trade Representative Michael Froman met today in Washington with Japanese Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry Toshimitsu Motegi to discuss Japan’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, as well as ongoing U.S.-Japan cooperation on multilateral trade issues.
Ambassador Froman welcomed Japan’s entry into the TPP talks and noted that our teams are working intensively to integrate Japan into the ongoing negotiations. Ambassador Froman underscored the importance of Japan working closely with the United States to conclude a high-standard and comprehensive TPP agreement this year, and in this regard also emphasized the necessity of achieving a robust outcome with Japan in parallel bilateral negotiations on autos, insurance, and other non-tariff measures.
The ministers expressed disappointment that the World Trade Organization negotiations to expand the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) have stalled, and reaffirmed the goal of concluding a balanced and commercially significant agreement. They also agreed to cooperate in developing a meaningful package of outcomes for the WTO Ministerial in December.
