United States Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky told Foreign Minister Yohei Kono on Wednesday that the U.S. wants a one-year extension of a bilateral deregulation framework due to expire in March 2001, a Foreign Ministry official said.

During a 30-minute talk Wednesday evening at the Foreign Ministry, Barshefsky said U.S. President Bill Clinton will emphasize extending the framework during an upcoming meeting with Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, the official said.

Mori will express "his own thinking" to Clinton, the official quoted Kono as saying. It is believed that the government will respond positively to the U.S. proposal.