Japan pushes back against US pressure for bilateral trade deal

Japan has less room to compromise with the United States under a bilateral trade deal than under a multilateral agreement like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), its deputy prime minister said, taking a swipe at U.S. attempts to directly pressure Tokyo into opening up heavily-protected markets like agriculture. According to Reuters, Taro Aso, who heads Japan for a newly-created bilateral economic dialogue with the United States, said that under TPP, Japan was able to accede to more U.S. demands as it could make up for the losses through agreements with other countries. Read more at USAgNet…