Japan and the United States are not expected to announce a broad bilateral agreement for a Pacific trade pact when their leaders meet Thursday in Tokyo, as they remain considerably apart over the issue of market access for agricultural products and automobiles.

Akira Amari, minister in charge of Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks, on Tuesday signaled that bridging Japan-U.S. gaps over the remaining problems in their bilateral talks related to the TPP would be difficult.

The two countries have been trying to reach a broad accord for announcement when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Barack Obama meet.