US-Japan economic dialogue may supplant multilateral pacts: analyst

Tokyo

JAPAN will launch moves this week to fend off fresh trade friction with the US, when senior Japanese government officials visit Washington in advance of a new regular, high-level bilateral economic dialogue due to kick off next month.

The meetings come as US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson heads in the opposite direction for senior-level meetings in Japan, South Korea and China, and at a time when analysts say US strategic and trading interests in East Asia are in a delicate balance.