Japanese officials said the US side expressed interest in reaching a bilateral t

A US government official said he was interested in a bilateral free trade agreement with Japan and cut the US trade deficit in a bilateral economic dialogue held in Japan on Monday.

Japan and the United States are holding a second round of bilateral economic dialogue. The Japanese officials said the two sides decided to continue to discuss the operation of the best trade framework, indicating that Japan did not agree with the United States on the drafting of bilateral trade agreements to start negotiations.

The senior officials told reporters after the dialogue, Japan and the United States did not discuss the exchange rate issue.