Frank Yoshida, the president of the International Association of Machinists, said the U.S. would benefit and the Japanese manufacturers will. But he said that his UAW could not guarantee full employment, which would require the government to set minimum wages.

While both Japanese automakers have been trying to gain the support of the Obama administration in discussions on restructuring, both officials said they have not reached a common position.

Honda, which employs more than 16,700 at its plants in Japan and is the country’s second largest automaker, said it had been in talks with the Obama administration about the proposed changes and considered the proposal from Japan “rewarding a long-term strategy with long-term costs.” “We’re optimistic about the potential to create a viable, long-term business, but we are open to a constructive dialogue,” said Yasuaki Tsunekawa, Honda’s public relations manager. The company also said it was in favor of the TPP, which could benefit companies in the region.

The U.S. is seeking an investment and employment pact with TPP or TPP-plus countries, including Japan, on labor, environmental and financial services, food and environmental standards and intellectual property rules. The company has also signaled its support for other policies that are aimed at improving trade.

A former Obama administration trade adviser, David Shulkin of the Center for a New American Security, called the two sides’ positions on trade “very similar” — but noted that the U.S. also has some key advantages. Shulkin said it would be very difficult for any TPP countries to enforce rules like environmental or labor quality standards.

“The only way that would be a real problem is if the U.S. could prove itself to be very hard to trade with,” he said.

The U.S. is a key trade partner with Japan, the world’s fourth largest economy, but it has seen its own trade deficit grow for the past two years and an overall slowdown in exports from Asia.

The United States runs a bilateral trade deficit with most of its Asian trading partners, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. The trade deficit between France and Germany dropped nearly 30 percent from 2011 to 2014, the lowest for the two countries in at least five years. The deficit in the United Kingdom, for example, fell 40 percent over the same period.

Trade critics, such as Rep. Ted Poe