Japanese trade minister Takeo Hiranuma and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick agreed Saturday to start a new round of auto trade talks, a Japanese official said.
Zoellick suggested a new round of talks after an auto pact between the two countries expired at the end of 2000, when Japan refused to renew it. Hiranuma agreed to the offer, the official said.
Zoellick told Hiranuma that the United States wants to focus on deregulation in the sector and hopes the proposed talks will benefit both countries.
Under the proposed talks, working-level officials will meet once a year to discuss issues based on trade and sales data.
Under the 1995 bilateral auto trade accord, Tokyo had promised to further open its domestic market to imports and to accept annual reviews on its progress.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and U.S. President George W. Bush agreed in late June to create a forum to focus on trade issues, including the auto and agriculture industries.
The Bush administration, seeking to promote cooperation with Japan, has shifted its policy and decided to deal with auto issues in separate talks, trade sources said.
The U.S. has feared that discussing auto issues at the forum may provide the impression that they are becoming new sources of trade friction, the sources said.
Hiranuma and Zoellick met in the Mexican capital after they attended the two-day meeting of World Trade Organization ministers in a bid to launch a new round of global trade talks in November.