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The Sun
2 hours ago
- Business
- The Sun
Japan says there is no easy concession on US tariffs, seeks more talks in June
JAPAN and the U.S. on Friday agreed to hold another round of trade talks ahead of the G7 summit next month, Japan's top tariff negotiator said, stressing that no deal would be without concessions on all Washington's tariffs, including on autos. Japan's Economy Minister Ryosei Akazawa met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington for 130 minutes in a fourth round of the trade negotiations. 'We agreed to accelerate the talks and hold another round ahead of the G7 summit in June, where the leaders from Japan and the United States are set to meet,' Akazawa told Japanese media gathered at the Japanese embassy in Washington. The U.S. side, led by Bessent and Lutnick, called Friday's talks 'frank and constructive.' 'Secretary Bessent highlighted to Minister Akazawa the importance of addressing tariffs and non-tariff measures, increasing investment, and working together to address economic security and other issues of mutual concern,' a Treasury Department statement said. Japan faces a 24% tariff rate starting in July unless it can negotiate a deal with the U.S. It is also scrambling to find ways to get Washington to exempt its automakers from 25% tariffs on automobiles, Japan's biggest industry. Akazawa said Japan's position has not changed that the tariffs are not acceptable and he is 'strongly urging' the U.S. to immediately reconsider and drop all the tariffs, including those levied on automobiles, auto parts, aluminum and steel. 'If our requests to do that are met, we may be able to come to an agreement,' Akazawa told Japanese media gathered at the Japanese embassy in Washington. 'But if that is not possible, then it will be difficult for us to agree to a deal.' Japanese government sources said before the latest meeting that an immediate deal was unlikely, as they would never hastily seal a deal that would not benefit Japan, particularly the automobile sector. Akazawa declined to give details of the latest discussions, but said trade expansion, non-tariff barriers and cooperation in economic security have been on the agenda at every meeting. Semiconductor supply chains and rare earths are among economic security topics, he added. He also said, while he was closely monitoring Nippon Steel's possible deal for U.S. Steel, he could not yet comment on it due to a lack of any official announcement from the U.S. government.
The Sun
3 hours ago
- Business
- The Sun
Japan, US to hold new trade talks before G7 Summit
JAPAN and the U.S. on Friday agreed to hold another round of trade talks ahead of the G7 summit next month, Japan's top tariff negotiator said, stressing that no deal would be without concessions on all Washington's tariffs, including on autos. Japan's Economy Minister Ryosei Akazawa met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington for 130 minutes in a fourth round of the trade negotiations. 'We agreed to accelerate the talks and hold another round ahead of the G7 summit in June, where the leaders from Japan and the United States are set to meet,' Akazawa told Japanese media gathered at the Japanese embassy in Washington. The U.S. side, led by Bessent and Lutnick, called Friday's talks 'frank and constructive.' 'Secretary Bessent highlighted to Minister Akazawa the importance of addressing tariffs and non-tariff measures, increasing investment, and working together to address economic security and other issues of mutual concern,' a Treasury Department statement said. Japan faces a 24% tariff rate starting in July unless it can negotiate a deal with the U.S. It is also scrambling to find ways to get Washington to exempt its automakers from 25% tariffs on automobiles, Japan's biggest industry. Akazawa said Japan's position has not changed that the tariffs are not acceptable and he is 'strongly urging' the U.S. to immediately reconsider and drop all the tariffs, including those levied on automobiles, auto parts, aluminum and steel. 'If our requests to do that are met, we may be able to come to an agreement,' Akazawa told Japanese media gathered at the Japanese embassy in Washington. 'But if that is not possible, then it will be difficult for us to agree to a deal.' Japanese government sources said before the latest meeting that an immediate deal was unlikely, as they would never hastily seal a deal that would not benefit Japan, particularly the automobile sector. Akazawa declined to give details of the latest discussions, but said trade expansion, non-tariff barriers and cooperation in economic security have been on the agenda at every meeting. Semiconductor supply chains and rare earths are among economic security topics, he added. He also said, while he was closely monitoring Nippon Steel's possible deal for U.S. Steel, he could not yet comment on it due to a lack of any official announcement from the U.S. government.
Business Insider
4 hours ago
- Business
- Business Insider
U.S.-Japan Trade Talks End with No Deal
Japan Economic Minister Ryosei Akazawa has concluded his meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. The meeting, which lasted over two hours and marked the fourth round of talks, ended without the two sides reaching a trade deal. Confident Investing Starts Here: Still, the two countries agreed to meet again with the topics of semiconductor and rare earth trade in mind ahead of the Group of Seven (G7) Leaders' Summit in July, according to Nikkei Asia. Japan Seeks Reversal of All U.S. Tariffs After the meeting, Akazawa said that it would be difficult to form a trade deal unless the U.S. agrees to drop all of its tariffs, including the duties set on Japanese vehicles. President Trump had previously enacted a 25% tariff on imported cars and trucks from Japan before reducing the rate to 10% for 90 days. In 2024, Japan exported roughly $148 billion of goods to the U.S. with vehicles accounting for about 28% of that figure. The U.S.' goods trade deficit with Japan stands at $68.47 billion.
Japan Times
5 hours ago
- Business
- Japan Times
Japan says progress made in U.S. tariff talks
Japan's chief trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said progress was made toward reaching a deal during his fourth round of tariff talks with his American counterparts, but declined to provide specifics. He met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick for over two hours Friday morning. It follows his U.S. trip last week , when Bessent was unable to attend. 'We confirmed that both sides have gained a solid understanding of each other's positions, and that discussions toward reaching an agreement are making progress,' Akazawa told reporters in Washington after Friday's meeting. He declined to comment in further detail. The two sides are eyeing the Group of Seven leaders' summit in June as a possible setting to announce a trade deal. Akazawa confirmed on Friday that there will be another round of talks before the summit. 'In preparation for a Japan-U.S. leaders' meeting during the June summit — we agreed to further accelerate coordination between our two countries and to hold another round of consultations before then,' he said. The pace of high-level exchanges between the two sides have increased since mid-May, with Akazawa traveling to Washington for two weeks in a row, and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Trump talking over the phone every time Akazawa is in the air. However, difficulties remain over reaching a deal as uncertainty looms . On Wednesday, the Court of International Trade in Manhattan ruled Trump's 'reciprocal' tariffs to be unlawful , arguing the president had exceeded his authority in invoking an emergency law to justify his tariff moves. However, a federal appellate court granted a temporary stay to the Trump administration on Thursday, allowing the tariffs to remain in place during the appeals process. Later on Friday, Trump announced during a visit to a United States Steel plant in Pittsburgh that he will raise tariffs on steel to 50% from the current 25% . Japan remains firm on its stance toward U.S. tariffs. Akazawa said Japan will continue to call on the U.S. to reverse the duties, including a 10% baseline tariff and 25% levies on autos, auto parts, steel and aluminum. It is not interested in partial concessions from the U.S. side at this time, he said. 'There are companies in Japan's auto industry that are losing ¥100 million per hour. Some are losing ¥1 billion per day, others as much as ¥2 billion per day. That is the situation the Japanese auto industry is facing,' Akazawa said. 'We do not, at this point of time, believe partial concessions are acceptable.'
Kyodo News
6 hours ago
- Business
- Kyodo News
Japan, U.S. agree tariff talks making progress toward deal
By Takuya Karube, KYODO NEWS - 18 minutes ago - 09:27 | All, World Japan's chief tariff negotiator said Friday that he and U.S. Cabinet members agreed in their talks that they are making progress toward a potential tariff deal as early as next month. After a meeting in Washington with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's minister in charge of economic revitalization, told reporters that they plan to hold another round of negotiations before a Group of Seven summit in mid-June. Akazawa noted, however, that Tokyo's stance to demand the United States remove all its additional tariffs on Japanese imports has not changed, and he urged them to do so during the latest meeting, which lasted more than two hours. "If that can be met, we may be able to agree, but if not, it will be difficult to reach an agreement," Akazawa said. He refused to disclose how their negotiations are making progress or in which areas. According to the Treasury Department, Bessent highlighted to Akazawa the importance of boosting investment and working together to deal with economic security issues. Bessent also reaffirmed the "strong bilateral relationship" between the two countries, the department said. 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 Lutnick, but not with Bessent. The Japanese and U.S. leaders are expected to hold talks on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada. 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 did the same Friday 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. Related coverage: Japan rules out defense deal in return for U.S. tariff easing Japan PM says mutual understanding "deepened" with Trump over tariffs Japan defense equipment outlays may ease U.S. trade gap: tariff chief
