WASHINGTON – The United States and Japan held the fourth round of meetings under the United States-Japan Partnership on Trade from December 14-15, 2023. The U.S. delegation was led by Christopher Wilson, Assistant United States Trade Representative for Japan, Korea, and APEC Affairs.
The Partnership on Trade was launched in November 2021 during United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai’s visit to Tokyo. It aims to strengthen the United States-Japan trade relationship by advancing bilateral collaboration on trade-related topics and issues of common interest, as well as to securing regular, ongoing engagement to address bilateral trade issues.
This week, the United States and Japan discussed specific areas of common interest and collaboration, including:
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Digital Economy: Continued coordinated efforts to respond to several third-party regulations that present concerns in light of shared commitments to building a positive ecosystem for the digital economy and digital trade.
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U.S.-Japan Critical Minerals Agreement (CMA): Reviewed progress towards meeting the various commitments under the CMA, and each side’s respective capacities to extract and process critical minerals.
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Third-Country Issues: Exchanged information on existing agreements with respect to third countries and shared concerns about the non-market and trade-distorting practices of third countries.
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Labor: Discussed updates and follow-up items on engagements under the Task Force on the Promotion of Human Rights and International Labor Standards in Supply Chains, which was established in January 2023.
The United States and Japan also discussed bilateral trade issues including regulatory transparency, ensuring a level playing field for certain products and services, and technical barriers to trade.
The delegations from the United States and Japan will have follow-up intersessional activities and look forward to the next round of Partnership meetings to advance these and other shared priorities.
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