Economic and fiscal policy minister Akira Amari and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman on Sunday kicked off two days of talks to advance negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement before the U.S.-Japan summit on April 28.

The trade chiefs will try to bridge their differences over Japan's agriculture market and trade barriers to the U.S. auto sector but do not expect to settle all outstanding issues before the bilateral negotiations conclude on Monday, Amari said before the talks began.

On Sunday, Amari repeated his determination to protect the farm sector, saying Japan would not give in to U.S. demands just because there is a leaders' summit in nine days.