U.S. doubles steel and aluminum tariffs as Japan counts on a breakthrough

Japan Times

2 days ago

The United States on Wednesday doubled tariffs on steel and aluminum to 50% as it continued intense negotiations with Japan, which is hoping to reach a trade deal within a couple of weeks.
The higher rates imposed Wednesday will support American industry, U.S. President Donald Trump said at a rally at United States Steel's plant in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania last week.
'At 25%, they can sort of get over that fence. At 50%, they can no longer get over the fence,' Trump said on Friday.
The United Kingdom is exempt from the latest increases due to a framework trade deal it reached with the U.S. last month, according to the White House.
It also noted that the tariffs will only apply to the steel and aluminum content of imported goods, while other materials used in the manufacture of imported goods will be subject to tariff rates appropriate for those materials.
Japan repeated its stance that the tariffs on steel and aluminum — along with the current 25% levies on auto and auto parts and a 10% baseline tariff on almost all other goods — are all extremely "regrettable," and that it will continue to urge the U.S. to remove them.
'The government will continue to closely examine the content of the measures and their implications for our country, and will take necessary actions as appropriate,' Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Wednesday, while declining to comment on the possible effects of the higher rates.
Tariff negotiations between the two countries have accelerated as Japan and the United States aim for a meeting between their leaders at the Group of Seven leaders summit on June 16 and 17.
News reports have suggested that Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is considering a trip to Washington shortly before the summit, which will be held in Banff, Canada, to talk to Trump in person. Some inside the government are hoping a deal could be announced on June 14, Trump's birthday, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun.
The U.S. Trade Representative's office sent letters to dozens of countries as a 'friendly reminder' that the deadline is approaching to reach deals needed to stop higher "reciprocal" tariffs from kicking in in July, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday.
Japan has not received such a letter, Hayashi said on Wednesday morning.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, is set to travel to Washington on Thursday for a fifth round of high-level tariff talks. He said that it's still too early to tell if his trip will settle everything once and for all.
'Since this is a negotiation with a counterpart, even if we hope it will be the final round, it often doesn't turn out that way. So I don't really have that mindset,' Akazawa told reporters after a meeting of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Wednesday afternoon.
While the two countries are aiming to present some sort of progress at the G7 summit, Akazawa told the meeting that he intends to overcome the 'national crisis' without compromising Japan's national interest. He told reporters afterward that he's not planning to travel with Ishiba to the summit at this point.
'We will continue building on the talks, accelerating them — that's what we agreed on, and that's the only thing I'm focused on right now,' he said.