Japan has not narrowed trade differences with US, negotiator says

Credit: Reuters/Shizuo Kambayashi/Pool

Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Wendy Cutler (L) shakes hands with Japan's deputy chief negotiator Hiroshi Oe ahead of their meeting for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade negotiation at the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo April 22, 2014.

There were many issues that still need to be negotiated, Japan Deputy Chief Negotiator Hiroshi Oe told reporters.

Oe met U.S. Acting Deputy Trade Representative Wendy Cutler a day before U.S. President Barack Obama's scheduled arrival in Japan, where he will meet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Obama's visit has put renewed emphasis on negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a 12-nation trade bloc that would stretch from Asia to Latin America.

(Reporting by Stanley White; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Robert Birsel)