Japan, US tariff negotiators to hold another round of talks

The Mainichi

a day ago

WASHINGTON (Kyodo) -- Japan's chief tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, will hold another round of talks on Friday with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as the two governments explore a possible agreement to be reached by their leaders next month.
On the eve of the talks, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba spoke to U.S. President Donald Trump by phone, telling reporters afterward that each side was able to gain a better understanding of the views held by the other.
Ishiba, however, said Japan's position on building a win-win relationship has not changed and it is necessary to achieve the goal by increasing his country's investment in the United States, rather than using tariffs.
Akazawa was previously in Washington just a week ago, when he met separately with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
The Japanese minister in charge of economic revitalization later told reporters that the talks on trade, nontariff barriers and economic security were more in-depth than earlier discussions, and it would be "very desirable" for the Japanese and U.S. leaders to reach some sort of agreement in mid-June on the sidelines of a Group of Seven summit in Canada.
The Trump administration is increasingly recognizing the importance of Japan for the U.S. economy, Akazawa also said at the time, while indicating that increased cooperation between the two countries on strategic sectors could hold the key to making progress in their negotiations.
Akazawa's team has presented a set of proposals to the Trump administration since the first round of the bilateral ministerial talks kicked off in mid-April.
The package includes more purchases of U.S. corn and soybeans to help counteract the decline of its exports of the two crops to China amid trade tensions between Washington and Beijing, officials familiar with the negotiations said.
It also contains Japan's readiness to cooperate in resurrecting the shipbuilding capacity of the United States, a goal Trump has vowed to attain amid China's increasing dominance of the industry, according to the officials.
In return, Akazawa has persistently asked the Trump administration to eliminate the new tariffs it imposed on Japanese imports. He is expected to do the same in his fourth round of talks with the United States.
In early May, Akazawa and the U.S. Cabinet members agreed to accelerate the pace of their tariff talks from the latter half of the month with the aim of striking an agreement that will be beneficial for both Japan and the United States.
Under Trump's so-called reciprocal tariff regime, announced April 2, Japan faces a country-specific tariff of 14 percent for a total rate of 24 percent.
Along with other countries, Japan has been hit by the Trump administration's additional 25 percent tariff on automobiles and other sector-based levies implemented on national security grounds, on top of the baseline duty of 10 percent that is part of its reciprocal scheme.