Japan, US launches initiative to facilitate discussions on trade issues

Amid China's economic rise, Japan and the United States on Wednesday launched an initiative to facilitate regular discussions on trade issues.

The first series of meeting under the US-Japan Partnership on Trade is expected early next year, with the initial areas of focus including "third country concerns" and cooperation in improving a rules-based economic order in the Indo-Pacific region, Kyodo News reported citing officials of the two countries.

The announcement was made as Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi held a meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, who is on her first visit to Japan since assuming her position in March.

"Our close collaboration will support the Biden-Harris administration's economic framework for the Indo-Pacific and help create sustainable, resilient, inclusive, and competitive trade policies that lift up our people and economies," Tai said in a statement.

In an apparent reference to China, Japan and the United States have repeatedly raised the issue of "market-distorting practices," such as industrial subsidies and overproduction, at meetings of the Group of Seven nations and other multilateral talks.

( With inputs from ANI )

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