The World : Japan OKs Pact to Expand U.S. Imports

U.S. and Japanese officials announced an agreement aimed at expanding sales of a range of American-made consumer products in Japan, a market that U.S. companies have found difficult to penetrate. The agreement would affect American sporting goods and leisure products, furniture, jewelry, processed foods and pet foods, which together accounted for nearly $1.6 billion in exports to Japan last year. “This is a first attempt to really penetrate the Japanese consumer market by getting access to consumers,” Commerce Secretary C. William Verity said in Washington. The eventual inclusion of about 20 products, including medical and computer equipment, has been discussed, he added.