The United States has expressed strong criticism over the introduction of a new "kampo" life insurance product in Japan, a U.S. trade official said.
"We were extremely disappointed" with Japan Post sale of a fixed-term, whole-life insurance policy, which kicked off Jan. 1, the official told reporters on condition of anonymity after two days of high-level deregulation talks ending Friday in Washington.
Despite opposition from the U.S., the Japanese government approved Japan Post's plan to market the product, which has been a mainstay item of private-sector insurers operating in Japan, including U.S. companies.
At a separate news briefing, a Japanese official said Japan told the U.S. it does not have any plan now to introduce any other new kampo products.