Japan says progress made in U.S. tariff talks
Japan's chief trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said progress was made toward reaching a deal during his fourth round of tariff talks with his American counterparts, but declined to provide specifics.
He met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick for over two hours Friday morning. It follows his U.S. trip last week , when Bessent was unable to attend.
'We confirmed that both sides have gained a solid understanding of each other's positions, and that discussions toward reaching an agreement are making progress,' Akazawa told reporters in Washington after Friday's meeting.
He declined to comment in further detail.
The two sides are eyeing the Group of Seven leaders' summit in June as a possible setting to announce a trade deal. Akazawa confirmed on Friday that there will be another round of talks before the summit.
'In preparation for a Japan-U.S. leaders' meeting during the June summit — we agreed to further accelerate coordination between our two countries and to hold another round of consultations before then,' he said.
The pace of high-level exchanges between the two sides have increased since mid-May, with Akazawa traveling to Washington for two weeks in a row, and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Trump talking over the phone every time Akazawa is in the air.
However, difficulties remain over reaching a deal as uncertainty looms .
On Wednesday, the Court of International Trade in Manhattan ruled Trump's 'reciprocal' tariffs to be unlawful , arguing the president had exceeded his authority in invoking an emergency law to justify his tariff moves.
However, a federal appellate court granted a temporary stay to the Trump administration on Thursday, allowing the tariffs to remain in place during the appeals process.
Later on Friday, Trump announced during a visit to a United States Steel plant in Pittsburgh that he will raise tariffs on steel to 50% from the current 25% .
Japan remains firm on its stance toward U.S. tariffs. Akazawa said Japan will continue to call on the U.S. to reverse the duties, including a 10% baseline tariff and 25% levies on autos, auto parts, steel and aluminum. It is not interested in partial concessions from the U.S. side at this time, he said.
'There are companies in Japan's auto industry that are losing ¥100 million per hour. Some are losing ¥1 billion per day, others as much as ¥2 billion per day. That is the situation the Japanese auto industry is facing,' Akazawa said.
'We do not, at this point of time, believe partial concessions are acceptable.'
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Japan Times
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This demographic, which is just now growing into its significant purchasing power, isn't merely consuming Japanese content but embracing it as part of its identity. From anime-inspired fashion to Japanese vocabulary seeping into everyday English, we are witnessing cultural influence that extends far beyond mere entertainment. Famously, American sprinter Noah Lyles celebrated his gold medal in the 100-meter dash at the Paris Olympics last summer by making the "Kamehameha" gesture — an energy-blast attack from "Dragon Ball Z." The world's fastest man on the world's biggest sporting stage used this Japanese cultural symbol to mark his win. Yet while anime leads in Japanese soft-power exports, it should be viewed not as a destination but as a gateway to expand other areas. For example, according to the AJA and Parrot Analytics survey, merchandise sales typically generate three times the revenue of streaming anime itself, representing a significant economic opportunity. 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