WASHINGTON (Kyodo) Ten bipartisan U.S. senators submitted a resolution Thursday for immediate sanctions against Japan over its failure to lift its 15-month-old import ban on American beef.

With the Senate move following a similar measure by the House of Representatives earlier this month, U.S. political pressure has risen ahead of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to Japan on Friday and Saturday.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda indicated Friday in Tokyo that Japan is fed up with the repeated U.S. pressure.