Aso, who doubles as deputy prime minister, also plans to meet top economic officials of President Donald Trump’s administration, government sources said on condition of anonymity.
Asked if the two sides would discuss North Korea, Minister Aso said Vice President Pence was not the person directly in charge of the matter so he did not know how the issue would be discussed.
North Korea fired a missile that flew over Japan and landed in waters off the northern region of Hokkaido early today, marking a sharp escalation of tensions on the Korean peninsula.
Minister Aso has earlier expressed hope that the second round of economic talks would be held in October.
“There are some areas that need to be adjusted, so we are going to adjust them in order to hold [the next round of talks] by the end of this year,” Minister Aso told reporters after a cabinet meeting.
Japan-US trade talks “have dealt with frictions in the past, starting from the negotiations on textile in the 1960s, but this time we approached [the United States], calling for cooperation but not frictions,” Minister Aso said.
He and Vice President Pence would likely discuss issues such as trade, investment and economic policies in accordance with the first round of economic talks launched in April, Aso added.
Minister Aso will also hold informal talks with Gary Cohn, President Trump’s top economic adviser, and US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin during his visit scheduled for September 4-6, the sources said.
Minister Aso and Vice President Pence have led the US-Japan economic dialogue.
However, some analysts worry that President Trump’s administration, which is facing growing domestic turmoil, could pile pressure on the country’s trading partners for concessions that would boost US exports under his “America First” policy.
The upcoming talks could also include the issue of safeguard tariffs Japan has imposed on frozen beef from the United States and some other countries.