Tokyo readying to make TPP entry after 'deal' with US on exemptions for auto industry

TOKYO (AFP) - Tokyo and Washington have agreed on exemptions for the auto industry in a mooted Pacific-wide free trade pact, as Japan readies to announce its entry into negotiations, reports said Wednesday.

The two Pacific powers agreed in principle that the United States will be able to keep tariffs on car imports - 2.5 per cent for passenger cars and 25 per cent on trucks - for at least five to 10 years under the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Mainichi Shimbun and other media reported.

US President Barack Obama has cast the TPP as a vital plank in his so-called "pivot" to Asia, saying the emerging pact could boost growth and set rules to govern trade in the dynamic but unwieldy region, which includes much of East Asia, as well as some American countries.

The participation of both Japan and the United States, the world's two largest developed economies, would mean the pact covering nearly 40 per cent of the world's economy.