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Japan, US Trade Negotiators Meet as Aug. 1 Tariff Deadline Looms

Japan, US Trade Negotiators Meet as Aug. 1 Tariff Deadline Looms

Yahoo5 days ago
(Bloomberg) -- Japan's chief trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa met with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Monday as an Aug. 1 deadline for higher tariffs looms.
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The two met in Washington for more than two hours on Monday evening, Japan's cabinet secretariat said in a statement Tuesday. They had frank, in-depth discussions toward achieving a mutually beneficial agreement, the statement said, while adding that Japan still aims to protect its national interests.
Akazawa is in the US capital for an eighth round of trade talks with his US counterparts — negotiations that have so so far produced no concrete results since they began in April. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is under renewed pressure to secure reprieves before the Aug. 1 deadline, following his ruling coalition's historic election loss on Sunday.
Barring a deal, universal tariffs on Japan's exports to the US are set to rise to 25% on Aug. 1, up from the baseline 10% and an original 24%.
Asked about how the election results could affect talks with Japan, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent deflected the question on Monday.
'Our priorities are not the internal workings of the Japanese government,' Bessent said on CNBC. 'Our priorities are getting the best deal for the American people.'
During his trip to Japan last week when he led the US delegation's visit to the World Expo in Osaka, Bessent said that a mutually beneficial agreement between the two nations remains a possibility. He added that a good deal is more important than a rushed one.
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Trump, European Union Commission prez give ‘50-50′ chance of striking trade deal after Scotland meeting: ‘Rebalancing'

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