(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) Japanese and US officials are continuing their negotiations on Monday over contentious issues in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks.
The aim is to find middle ground and close the pact by year-end
Japan's Cabinet Office Senior Vice Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura and US Trade Representative Michael Froman are to meet again in Singapore on Monday
That is the 3rd day of the 4-day ministerial meeting of 12 Pacific Rim countries negotiating for the TPP, according to Japan's (NHK WORLD) website
On Sunday, Japan and the United States failed to narrow their differences
Japanese officials repeated the nation's insistence that it cannot cut tariffs on all goods, including five key agricultural products such as rice and wheat
The US side is reported to have insisted that removing tariffs on all products is a fundamental rule of the TPP
In the auto trade sector, US officials are calling for a special measure that would allow Washington to temporarily raise tariffs on imported vehicles
That's if Japanese auto imports rise after the tariff-cutting TPP deal is concluded
The US is seeking to safeguard its domestic car industry
But Japanese officials refused to budge on the issue, given that their US counterparts are not compromising on farm tariffs.
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