Cheese, please: Japan, EU said near agreement on trade pact
TOKYO — Japan and the European Union were rushing Friday to finalize an agreement on easing barriers between their huge economies, hoping to have the gist of a deal before the Group of 20 industrial nations meets next week in Germany.
The EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom and Rural Development Commissioner Phil Hogan met with senior Japanese officials shortly after arriving in Tokyo.
“We are making our utmost efforts,” Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said. “We need to take into consideration respective sensitivities and make utmost efforts from the perspective of national interests.”
He told reporters he expected the talks to be both “fierce and tough.”