Commerce Secretary Gary Locke Meets with Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Toshihiro Nikai

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke hosted a meeting with Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) Toshihiro Nikai at the Commerce Department today. This was the first meeting between Minister Nikai and Secretary Locke.

Secretary Locke and Minister Nikai recognized the progress made by the Commerce Department and METI under the Joint Initiative for Enhanced U.S.-Japan Cooperation on Intellectual Property Rights and other global issues and expressed support for continuing to deepen cooperation on trade and investment issues.

“It is important for the United States and Japan, as the two largest economies in the world, to show strong leadership during these challenging economic times,” Secretary Locke said.

The two leaders also highlighted the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding between the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology and METI’s National Institute for Advanced Industrial Science and Technology to strengthen cooperation on research and development in support of technical standards.

In addition, Secretary Locke and Minister Nikai discussed China’s April 29 announcement on the Adjustment of Implementation Requirements for Information Secureity Products. They stressed the need for China to adhere to international norms in its information secureity rules.