P.M. BRIEFING : Trade Talks Still Exploratory

The first day of talks between the United States and Japan to try to remove trade barriers and narrow trade imbalances failed to produce agreement in any key area, officials from both sides said today.

A member of the U.S. delegation told a news conference the talks had been “friendly and cooperative” but none of the five main areas discussed had been resolved.

The United States, anxious to reduce its huge trade deficit with Japan, is pressing Tokyo to clear away a variety of business practices it calls structural impediments to free trade.

The present talks, due to wind up Tuesday, are aimed at producing a final report on the year-long Structural Impediments Initiative before the July 9-11 economic summit of the world’s major industrialized nations in Houston.