TOKYO (AP) -- Japan and the United States exchanged views Wednesday on how each wants the other to open markets and enhance trade.
In two days of discussions that started Tuesday at Japan's Foreign Ministry, Japan urged the United States to relax regulations that it says impede access to auto, building materials and telecommunications markets, among others.The U.S. team wants Tokyo to lift barriers on sectors including medical devices and pharmaceuticals, financial services and energy.
The talks were held under an "enhanced initiative" on deregulation and competition policy agreed to by President Clinton and then-Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto in June 1997.
The governments plan to issue a report by March 2000 summarizing progress, Foreign Ministry official Kiichi Hiraide said.
Japan's huge trade surplus is a source of friction with the United States and its other economic partners, who urge Japan to boost its struggling economy to stimulate imports.
Japan will not be able to maintain its nascent economic recovery without "measures that will open markets and spur new investment," the U.S. government said after the talks.