NEW YORK — U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue expressed hope Wednesday a Japan-U.S. agreement to start talks for a bilateral trade agreement will lead to an expansion of U.S. agricultural exports to the world’s third-largest economy.

“Japan is an important customer for our agricultural products and we look forward to the great potential this breakthrough represents,” Perdue said in a statement.

“Achieving high-standard trade agreements is a top priority for American agriculture, and the announcement of the beginning of negotiations for a U.S.-Japan trade agreement is an important step in that process,” he said.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce welcomed the agreement — reached Wednesday between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump — as “a new effort to expand bilateral trade and maximize benefits for American job creators.”

“Japan is one of the most important export markets for American goods and services,” David Gossack, the organization’s vice president for Asia, said in a statement.

“These new discussions should help put U.S. businesses on a level playing with our foreign competitors and address longstanding issues between our two nations,” Gossack said.