Japan and the United States will hold ministerial talks in Sydney on Monday to seek progress on a Pacific free trade initiative, Akira Amari, the Japanese minister in charge, said Sunday as the two countries remain apart over farm tariff cuts and other issues.
The two largest economies in the Trans-Pacific Partnership framework are aiming to accelerate the broader 12-nation negotiations by achieving progress at the upcoming bilateral meeting, based on the outcome of working-level talks.
While some progress was made in the working-level talks, there are "still a number of difficult issues," Amari told reporters.