Japan and Mexico are arranging to hold a summit for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Enrique Pena Nieto in Tokyo on April 8, when Japan will kick off its diplomatic campaign to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, government sources said.
Abe is expected to tell the president that Japan is ready to join the free-trade talks, which Mexico entered last year, and call for his cooperation. Japan must receive approval from all of the other TPP member states to participate in the talks.
During the meeting, Abe plans to express Japan's intention to secure exceptions to tariff elimination on such grains as rice and barley, which Tokyo describes as "sacrosanct," according to the sources.