Japan's negotiating skills to be put to the test in trade talks with U.S.

Japan's negotiating skills will be put to the test as Tokyo tries to fend off U.S. demands for a bilateral free trade agreement and counter the threat of tariffs on cars and auto parts.

The longtime allies are set to launch high-level trade talks Thursday in Washington after months of preparations that saw Japan complete domestic procedures to ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement after the U.S. quit and sign a free trade deal with the European Union.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who will meet with economic revitalization minister Toshimitsu Motegi, has expressed a desire for a bilateral free trade agreement and told a Senate hearing that the United States has a "fairly aggressive agenda."