Japan's temporary import curbs on certain farm products mainly from China expired Thursday as the two countries failed to resolve the trade dispute during two days of public- and private-sector talks.
The two sides will resume negotiations as early as next week, said a senior official of the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry. The venue for the talks has yet to be decided.
Japan's tariffs on stone leeks, shiitake and rushes for tatami will return to normal today.
"When it comes to a concrete tool (to resolve the dispute), we could not narrow a gap," the official said. "But we believe that understanding of Japan's circumstances has deepened on the Chinese side."
During the meeting, Japan proposed reducing exports of these products to realize "orderly trade," a proposal that China rejected.
The two sides also discussed Japan's stance on the three products, in areas such as supply, demand and market trends, the official said.
If the two countries cannot reach an agreement before Dec. 21, Tokyo is expected to launch full-scale import curbs that may continue for up to four years under World Trade Organization rules. The date is Japan's deadline for deciding whether to take such action.
The trade dispute broke out April 23 when Japan imposed 200-day provisional import curbs on the three products in question to protect domestic producers. Although the measure does not specifically target China, the majority of imports of the products come from China.
In a retaliatory move in June, China launched 100 percent duties on imports of air conditioners, automobiles and mobile phones from Japan.