Trump and Abe said they had failed to reach a deal that would exempt Japan from new US steel and aluminum tariffs, as Abe had wanted.

Instead, they announced they had agreed to start talks on a new "free, fair and reciprocal" trade agreement following two days of talks.

Abe said that differences remained in each country's approach, Reuters reported.

"On the US side, they are interested in a bilateral deal," Abe told reporters.

"Our country's position is that TPP is the best for both of our countries," he added, referring to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact.

Trump said: "I don't want to go back into TPP, but if they offered us a deal that I can't refuse on behalf of the United States, I would do it."

Reuters and AP contributed to this story.