TOKYO (Reuters) - Top trade officials of Japan and the United States failed in talks on Wednesday to reach agreement on a dispute over extending an auto accord that expired at the end of last year, officials said.
Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Takeo Hiranuma and visiting U.S. Commerce Secretary Norman Mineta failed to narrow gaps on the bilateral auto and auto parts agreement first signed in 1995.
However, the two officials agreed on the need to continue talks, said a ministry official.
The five-year agreement, designed to improve U.S. access to Japan's auto market, expired at the end of 2000 and the U.S. side has been calling for a new accord to boost access for U.S. auto makers to the Japanese market.
U.S. auto makers were still having difficulty entering the Japanese market because domestic automakers have failed to increase parts procurement from U.S. suppliers, officials quoted Mineta as saying.
Hiranuma, however, reiterated Japan's position, stressing that the pact has already accomplished its role, they said.:
