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Trump assigns Japan trade talks to VP Pence

Media reports say President Trump has assigned Japan trade talks to Vice President Mike Pence.  Following Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s U.S. visit this past weekend, Japan requested that deputies be put in charge of economic dialogue, including trade.  The arrangement is a sign of progress for the visit aimed at building rapport between Trump and Abe.

One of Trump’s first actions in office was to pull the U.S. out of the twelve-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, a deal that at one point was favored by Pence.  No date is set for Pence to visit Japan, but a Japanese Finance Ministry official says the process may eventually lead to a bilateral trade agreement.