DALTON TANONAKA, CNN ANCHOR: Negotiators from China and Japan met in Beijing today to resolve their trade fight over import tariffs. The talks coincided with China's announcement that it had resolved all major obstacles to its entry into the World Trade Organization. But as CNN's Lisa Rose Weaver explains, the bilateral standoff could be a preview of future WTO conflicts.</s>LISA ROSE WEAVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The talks began with cautious expectations on how close a break in the trade impasse may be.</s>TADAKATSU SANO, CHIEF JAPANESE TRADE NEGOTIATOR (through translator): What is important today is that both sides get to debate thoroughly their point of view. It's too early to say what we hope to take back, but I think by the end of this, we at least will understand each other quite well.</s>WEAVER: A chief trade negotiator in the Japanese delegation earlier told Chinese media that Tokyo wasn't ready to lift the tariffs on Chinese agricultural goods that triggered the dispute in April. Chinese trade officials have called the measure discriminatory, and calling the tariff as China's key demand. Tokyo has claimed China's tariff on automobiles, mobile phones and air-conditioner exports are retaliatory and will cost Japanese industry more than $500 million a year if the standoff doesn't end. Japan's auto industry would take the biggest hit. But more critical than the dollar amount of goods is the effect the trade war might have on one of the most important trade relationships in Asia. Last year, bilateral trade surpassed 85 billion dollars, a figure due to pass the 100 billion mark this year, according to the Japan External Trade Organization. Each country is arguing that the other has violated World Trade Organization rules in the dispute, even though China in not a WTO member yet. But observers say the standoff serves as a warning: They may be more regional trade disputes in the futures, because China's WTO entry could lead to a glut of cheap Chinese goods in its neighbor's markets. Lisa Rose Weaver CNN, Beijing.
Negotiators from China and Japan Meet to Resolve Trade Fight Over Import Tariffs