The United States and Japan agreed in principle on Sunday to core elements of a trade deal that U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said they hoped to sign in New York next month.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the deal covered agriculture, industrial tariffs and digital trade. Auto tariffs would remain unchanged.

Abe said that the two nations had "successfully reached consensus" after "intense" negotiations while cautioned "We still have some remaining work that has to be done… mainly finalizing the wording."

Lighthizer noted that Japan imports about 14 billion U.S. dollars' worth of U.S. agricultural products and said the agreement would open up markets to over seven billion U.S. dollars of such products. He said beef, pork, wheat, dairy products, wine, and ethanol would all benefit by the deal.

Trump said Japan also had agreed to buy excess U.S. corn that is burdening farmers as a result of the tariff dispute between Washington and Beijing.

Abe, meanwhile, seemed to want to hedge against Trump's suggestion that the corn purchases were a done deal, but he said insect pests had affected some agricultural products in Japan, creating a need to buy certain products.

"We believe that there is a need for us to implement emergency support measures for the Japanese private sector to have the early purchase of the American corn," he said. "So that's why, against such backdrop, I do think that there is a possibility for us to cooperate to address this issue."

Trump is eager to help out farmers who have been hurt by the trade dispute with China, particularly in political swing states that he needs to support him in his bid for re-election in 2020.

(With input from Reuters, AFP)