TRADE

U.S.-Japan Trade Talks Continue: U.S. and Japanese negotiators met for a third day amid growing indications that the countries were close to reaching at least partial agreements in a contentious trade fight that has split the two for 15 months. Officials indicated that the two sides were closing the gap in negotiations aimed at opening Japan’s insurance market to U.S. and other foreign companies and expanding opportunities for U.S. telecommunications and medical equipment companies to compete for Japanese government contracts. Those deals, if they can be reached, would be the first major negotiating successes to result from lengthy talks under a framework accord signed by President Clinton in July, 1993. Officials close to the discussions stressed that the deals are not completed yet and that they could still come apart over the still-contentious issue of how to measure success.