THE US and Japan have agreed to start talks to develop what US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe described as a new “free, fair and reciprocal” trade deal between the two countries.

But the leaders said they had failed to reach a deal that would exempt Japan from new US steel and aluminium tariffs, as Abe had wanted.

“If we can come to an arrangement on a new deal, that would certainly be something we would discuss,” Trump told reporters. But he said the current trade deficit between the two countries is too high for him to offer an exemption now.

Most other key US allies have already been granted exemptions to Trump’s protectionist measures on steel and aluminium.

The US trade deficit with Japan last year was 56.1 billion dollars (£39.4 billion), according to the US Department of Commerce.

During Abe’s two-day visit, Trump appeared to be seeking to reassure him of the pair’s close alliance as the President prepares for a historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.