NHK reported this morning that USTR Lighthizer told the Senate Finance Committee yesterday that he hopes to reach a bilateral trade agreement with Japan “in a few months.” A Kyodo News dispatch from Washington this morning quoted the USTR as saying: “What I have proposed doing is to try to take care of a couple of the issues, particularly agriculture, early…. We don’t want to wait the length of time for an entire negotiation,” indicating he wants to prioritize a deal on tariff cuts on agricultural products. NHK noted that Lighthizer and Economic Revitalization Minister Motegi are slated to meet before the G20 Summit to speed up the negotiation process.