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He
made comment after bilateral trade talks with his counterpart
Wendy Cutler, acting deputy U.S. trade representative, started
Thursday.
Oe told reporters the two nations would remain in contact and he
might hold unofficial talks with Cutler on Saturday.
"There are remaining issues which need political decisions at
the end," he told reporters.
Japan and the United States have been negotiating to narrow gaps
over issues in the farm and auto sectors and the two-way trade
deal plays a crucial part in a broad Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
free trade pact.
"I am encouraged this week that we were able to further narrow
distance between us on the remaining issues, including auto and
agriculture, and identified a pathway toward reaching an
agreement," Cutler told reporters.
"We will be working hard with Japan and other countries to lay
the ground for a successful ministerial meeting."
Japan is prepared to increase its import quota for U.S. rice by
50,000 tonnes a year, around a quarter of the U.S. demand, media
reported.
Japan also seeks immediate abolition of a 2.5 percent tariff on
U.S. imports of auto parts, according to the reports.
Ministers from the 12-nation TPP negotiations will meet July
28-31 in Maui, Hawaii, after chief negotiators meet from July 24
to 27.
There is about a 70 percent chance for a broad agreement among
ministers, Japan's Economy Minister Akira Amari said on
Thursday.
Japan has effectively reached a bilateral agreement with
Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Brunei, and is finalising talks
with China and Peru, the Nikkei business daily said.
(Reporting by Ami Miyazaki, writing by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by
Chris Gallagher)
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