Japan and US Still Apart on TPP Auto Agreement

Japan and the United States ended bilateral working-level talks in Tokyo on Thursday over opening Japan’s auto sector as part of the Pacific free trade initiatives, with the two countries failing to produce significant progress.

“Though our mutual understanding advanced as a whole, there was no major progress,” Takeo Mori, Japanese ambassador in charge of economic diplomacy, told reporters after the talks. The two nations will continue to hold negotiations but they could not decide specific dates for the next meeting.

The talks, also attended by Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Wendy Cutler, were aimed at bridging gaps over nontariff measures in the auto sector, which has been one of the sticking points in the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade negotiations.

Washington has urged Tokyo to open the auto market further, saying existing nontariff barriers such as regulatory standards prevent U.S. automakers from expanding sales in Japan.

via Mainichi

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza