1.   But the sanctions deadline was looming and pressure from elected officials and other public figures increasing and finally, on Wednesday afternoon, a settlement was reached.

2.   The shipping industry lobby asked the U.S. to retract the decision and urged the Japanese government to resolve the dispute before the sanctions deadline.

3.   China and the United States reached an agreement in principle on their copyright dispute here Monday, averting a trade war hours after the expiry of a sanctions deadline.

4.   US Trade Representative Mickey Kantor and Chinese Foreign Trade Minister Wu Yi sipped champagne after signing the copyright agreement, forged after a sanctions deadline lapsed last month.

5.   US Trade Representative Mickey Kantor and Japanese Trade Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto held two sessions of auto talks on Wednesday in a race to beat a US sanctions deadline.

6.   Under the IPR accord, reached last month as a sanctions deadline lapsed, China is to abolish import restrictions on audio-visual and publishing products.

7.   Under the IPR agreement, reached last month as a sanctions deadline lapsed, China has pledged to boost implementation of existing copyright legislation.

8.   Japanese Foreign Minister Yohei Kono and Kantor held four rounds of talks on government procurement in Washington last week ahead of the sanctions deadline.

9.   No date was given for the mission but it will come days before a US-imposed sanctions deadline.

10.   On Saturday, the Group of Seven most industrialised nations backed the sanctions deadline.