WASHINGTON (Kyodo) Japan and the United States started their first talks Thursday on Tokyo's possible participation in negotiations for an expanded trans-Pacific free-trade agreement.
The talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement were set to continue until Friday under the two-day Japan-U.S. Trade Forum. The U.S. is a key player among the nine countries currently involved in negotiations to expand the TPP membership.
During the meeting in Washington, Japan planned to focus on gathering information from the U.S. side about the TPP talks, Japanese Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki told reporters.