美、日致力達成自由貿易協定

The United States and Japan have agreed to begin negotiations on a bilateral free-trade agreement, reducing the prospect that Washington might impose tariffs against another trading partner.

“We've agreed today to start trade negotiations between the United States and Japan,” U.S. President Donald Trump said at a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

“This was something that for various reasons over the years Japan was unwilling to do and now they are willing to do. So we're very happy about that, and I'm sure that we will come to a satisfactory conclusion,” Trump added.

The White House released a statement after the meeting, stating the two countries would enter into talks after completing necessary domestic procedures for a bilateral trade agreement on goods and other key areas, including services.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer called it a “very important step” in expanding U.S.-Japan relations. He told reporters that the U.S. and Japan were aiming to approve a full free-trade agreement soon. Lighthizer said he would talk to Congress on Thursday about seeking authority for the president to negotiate the agreement, under the “fast track” trade authority law.

Lighthizer said he expected the negotiations to include the goal of reaching an “early harvest” on reducing tariffs and other trade barriers.

Tokyo had been reluctant to commit to a bilateral free-trade pact and had hoped that Washington would consider returning to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a broader regional trade agreement championed by the Obama administration that Trump pulled out of in January 2017, siting it wasn't in the best interest of the U.S..

Japanese officials have expressed concern Trump might pressure Tokyo to open up its politically sensitive farm market. They also are wary Trump might demand a reduction in Japanese auto imports or impose high tariffs on autos and auto parts, which would be detrimental to Japan's export-reliant economy.

Trump is expressing confidence the two sides will reach an agreement.

“We're going to have a really great relationship, better than ever before on trade,” he said. “It can only be better for the United States because it couldn't get any worse because of what's happened over the years.”美國和日本已同意開始就雙邊自由貿易協定進行談判，這減少了華盛頓可能對另一個貿易伙伴徵收關稅的可能性。

美國總統特朗普在聯合國大會期間與日本首相安倍晉三在紐約舉行的峰會上說，“我們今天已經同意開始就美日之間的貿易進行談判。”

特朗普補充說，“多年來日本處於各種原因不願意這樣做，現在他們願意了，我們對此感到非常高興，我相信我們會得到一個圓滿的結果。“

白宮在會後發表宣告，表示兩國將在完成各自國內有關商品和其他關鍵領域（包括服務）雙邊貿易協定的必要程式後進行談判。

美國貿易代表萊希澤稱這是擴大美日關係的“非常重要的一步”。他告訴記者說，美國和日本的目標是儘快批准一項完整的自由貿易協定。 萊希澤表示，他將於週四與國會討論根據“快速通道”貿易授權法，尋求授權總統進行協議談判。

萊希澤表示，他預計談判將包括在降低關稅和其他貿易壁壘方面實現“早期收穫”的目標。

東京一直不願承諾簽署雙邊自由貿易協定，並希望華盛頓能夠考慮重返跨太平洋夥伴關係協定，這是前政府奧巴馬所倡導的更廣泛的區域貿易協定，特朗普總統認為該協議沒有讓美國得到最大利益而於2017年1月撤出相關談判。

日本官員表示擔心特朗普可能會迫使東京開放其政治敏感的農產品市場。他們也對特朗普可能要求減少日本汽車進口或對日本汽車和汽車零部件徵收高關稅較為謹慎，這將對日本的出口型經濟產生不利影響。

特朗普總統則表示相信雙方將達成協議。他說：“我們的關係將非常好，比以往任何時候都更好。” 他說，“對美國來說這隻會更好，因為這麼多年來的發展不可能讓事情變得更糟了。”