Japan's top negotiator arranging more tariff talks in US this week
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's top tariff negotiator is arranging to visit the United States later this week for a fifth round of ministerial-level talks, aiming to reach common ground ahead of a summit between the two countries' leaders eyed for mid-June, a government source said Monday.
Ryosei Akazawa, the minister in charge of economic policy, seeks to win concessions over new tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump if he makes the trip to Washington from Thursday. It would be his third visit in as many weeks.
The talks could broach Trump's recent decision to double tariffs on steel and aluminum to 50 percent, effective Wednesday. The new rate was not mentioned in the fourth round of tariff discussions between Akazawa and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent held Friday.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Trump plan to hold talks around the three-day G7 summit scheduled in Canada from June 15.
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