Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda told U.S. President Barack Obama during a meeting Tuesday in Cambodia that he hopes Japan can participate in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks despite opposition to the initiative at home.
"We hope to speed up talks to overcome issues between Japan and the United States" toward Japan's entry into the U.S.-led TPP negotiations, Noda told reporters after meeting with Obama in Phnom Penh.
Japanese farmers are strongly opposed to the TPP. Some U.S. industries also oppose Japan's participation in the trade talks, with the automobile sector arguing that Japanese regulations have barred foreign carmakers from penetrating the market and that the bilateral trade imbalance will widen if Japan is allowed to join the tariff-cutting framework.