Japanese butter on the table in Pacific trade talks

TOKYO: Japan has been grappling with a severe butter shortage that critics say highlights a bigger problem with the country’s protected agricultural sector, a key sticking point in high-profile trade talks this week in Hawaii.

The United States, Japan, and 10 other Pacific Rim countries are looking to finalize the most ambitious trade deal in decades, a vast free-trade bloc encompassing 40 percent of the world’s economy.