JAPAN and the United States reported progress in top-level trade talks late Sunday that could pave the way for a broader trans-Pacific trade deal, although Tokyo cautioned that a bilateral accord would be unlikely in time for a summit this week.

    Japan’s Economy Minister Akira Amari and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman both said they had made good progress in the first of two days of cabinet-level discussions.

    “We exchanged opinions about areas where Japan and the United States will cooperate in dealing with others” in the multilateral talks, Amari told reporters. “We confirmed progress made at working-level meetings with regard to remaining issues.”

    Access to Japan’s farm market and the U.S. car market remain obstacles to a bilateral deal between the two nations, vital to the success of a long-delayed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) pact. The world’s biggest and third-biggest economies account for some 80 percent of the economic output of the 12-member TPP.(SD-Agencies)