The U.S. and Japan have been working on trade negotiations for quite some time now and they made some progress last month,... signing in PRINCIPLE to a trade deal.<br />Now, the talks are perhaps getting a step closer to the final stage.<br />Lee Kyungeun tells us more.<br />U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that he has reached an initial trade agreement with Japan.<br />In a letter to Congress, Trump said that the U.S. aims to achieve a comprehensive trade agreement to bring a more fair and reciprocal trade through tariff reduction.<br />In a previous deal reached in August between Washington and Tokyo, Trump and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe agreed in "principle" on various sectors including agriculture, industry and e-commerce. Automobiles were excluded.<br />As for the this agreement, although the details have not been revealed, reference on auto tariffs are omitted as well.<br />Tariffs on automobiles are a critical issue to both countries and has been source of delay in their trade talks.<br />With the U.S. struggling with a major trade deficit in automobiles and components, it has been threatening to impose 25-percent tariffs on those goods imported from the EU and Japan.<br />This, in turn, made it difficult for Japan to come to an agreement with the US.<br />To reach a compromise, Japan made concessions in August like agreeing to buy excess U.S. corn.<br /><br />The U.S., meanwhile, centers its interests largely on agriculture, in order to bring some relief to U.S. farmers who are already struggling from the ongoing U.S.-China trade spat.<br />With Monday's progress in bilateral trade talks, attention is now on whether the two will sign a final deal when they meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York later this month.<br />Lee Kyungeun, Arirang news.<br />
