The Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) is ready to propose as early as next month that Japan and the United States sign an economic partnership agreement to abolish tariffs and boost free investment, sources said Saturday.

It will be the first time the country's most powerful business lobby has proposed a bilateral EPA with the U.S.

The move comes as structural reform of Japan's agricultural industry -- a traditional obstacle to trade and investment pacts -- has started, and Keidanren has judged the overall bilateral economic relationship as entering a new stage.