TOKYO -- Japan and the U.S. will hold their first ministerial-level trade talks in Washington on Aug. 9, Japanese Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said on Tuesday.
The planned meeting will be between Motegi and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
As the U.S. government is calling for talks on a bilateral free-trade agreement, Lighthizer is expected to put forward tough demands to Japan trying to bring Washington back to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade liberalization pact.
The meeting, which may be held for two days until Aug. 10, will be called FFR due to an agreement in April between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump to launch a new framework of bilateral negotiations to discuss "free, fair and reciprocal" trade.
While Trump is considering raising tariffs on automobile imports, Japan will seek to avoid such an outcome in the new round of trade talks, stressing that Japanese automakers are contributing to the creation of jobs in the U.S. through manufacturing operations in the country.
