U.S. Ambassador to Japan William Hagerty said Friday that President Donald Trump¡¯s first visit to Tokyo earlier this month was a big success, especially in terms of advancing discussions on ¡°unfair¡± trade relationships between the two countries.

¡°During his successful visit to Japan, the president strengthened his close relationship with Prime Minister (Shinzo) Abe, and moved the relationship forward on both security and trade issues,¡± Hagerty, who became ambassador in July, said during a news conference at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo.

¡°The president and Prime Minister Abe had significant discussions regarding trade,¡± he said.

During his visit, Trump pushed for a more favorable bilateral trade deal with Japan after pulling out of the multinational Trans-Pacific Partnership in January as one of his first priorities as president.

Hagerty said the U.S. will not join the so-called TPP 11 agreement.

But Hagerty also said a bilateral free trade agreement between Japan and the U.S. is ¡°very possible¡± but admitted that no timeline for reaching such a deal exists.

¡°The president and the prime minister did discuss this tool, as he means to address some of the imbalance in our trade,¡± he said, although Japanese officials said such talks never took place..

As an example of the imbalance, Hagerty said that while U.S. meat is taxed by a tariff of up to 50 percent, Australian beef is taxed at only 28 percent.

During a joint news conference Nov. 6, Abe and Trump agreed to maximize pressure on North Korea. Abe supported Trump¡¯s position that ¡°all options are on the table.¡± Trump said Japan will be ¡°purchasing a massive amount of military equipment,¡± although it had already planned to introduce new equipment, such as F-35A fighter jets, from the U.S.

Hagerty said the two leaders ¡°did not discuss specific platforms or specific weapons systems that will be made available,¡± and added the ¡°goal is to make more advanced technology available to Japan.¡±