Akazawa talks of 'dense fog' in U.S. trade talks ahead of G7 summit

Japan Times

18 hours ago

Hopes have dimmed for a trade deal between Japan and the United States in the coming days, as no breakthroughs have been achieved despite Japan's tariff czar traveling to Washington for trade talks three weeks in a row.
While noting the increased pace of negotiations over the past month has delivered some progress, chief tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said at a Tuesday news conference that a clear path toward common ground has yet to be found.
"It feels like we're still in a dense fog,' he said.
A second in-person meeting between Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and U.S. President Donald Trump is set to take place during the Group of Seven leaders' summit from June 15 to 17 in Kananaskis, Alberta Canada.
Press reports have suggested a possible trade deal to emerge at the summit, with some saying the prime minister might make a trip to Washington before going to Canada. But this is now far less likely as so little progress has been made in talks ahead of the summit.
According to reports, Akazawa plans to fly to Washington again on Friday to hold another round of negotiations with his American counterparts. It will be the fourth week in a row in which the tariff czar has jetted to Washington, and his sixth trip in total since negotiations between the two countries started in mid-April.
When asked by The Japan Times on Monday if he would travel to Canada during the G7 summit, Akazawa did not discount its possibility.
'If the issue of tariffs is taken up at the G7 — even if not within the G7 framework itself but in a bilateral meeting between the Japanese and U.S. leaders — then, as the person in charge, it's certainly possible that I would accompany them,' he said.
An Asahi Shimbun report last week suggested Japan might have been considering a mechanism in which the U.S. lowers the levy rate on automobiles based on a country's contribution to the American auto industry — which, if true, would represent a major backing down from Tokyo's demand for Washington to remove all tariffs it has imposed since March.
Akazawa denied the possibility on Monday, confirming that Japan is still aiming for a full reversal of all tariff measures imposed by the U.S., which currently includes a 25% tariff on vehicles and auto parts, a 50% tax on steel and aluminum and a 10% baseline duty on almost all other imports.
'We're negotiating with the strong desire to eliminate that burden as quickly as possible,' Akazawa said of the auto tariffs on Monday. 'Even a second sooner if we could.'