Japanese businessmen walk past the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT) headquarters in Tokyo March 23. The United States said that it "reserves all options" in future telecoms negotiations with Japan after failing to reach an accord on promoting competition and slashing Japanese connection fees. US Deputy Trade Representative Richard Fisher, speaking to reporters after three days of talks on the issue after failing to reach an agreement, said he hoped common sense would prevail and that the issue would not escalate into a trade conflict.

ST/PB