Senior U.S. Trade Official May Visit Japan Next Week

Washington, July 30 (Jiji Press)--Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Wendy Cutler is considering visiting Japan next week for discussions on bilateral trade issues, informed sources told Jiji Press on Tuesday. Cutler is expected to meet with senior Japanese Foreign Ministry and other officials and launch talks on nontariff issues in the automobile and other sectors as agreed by the two nations in their preliminary consultations on Japan's participation in Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade negotiations in April, the sources said. The auto sector talks are seen covering nine issues, including Japan's safety standards that are regarded as a nontariff barrier by the U.S. automotive industry, the sources said. Negotiations on other nontariff issues are expected to cover nine fields, such as insurance, the sources said, adding that results of the bilateral discussions are likely to affect the course of the TPP negotiations. In the insurance sector, Japan Post Holdings Co. has agreed to increase the number of post offices handling U.S. industry giant Aflac Inc.'s cancer insurance products to 20,000 from some 1,000 at present. END