Latest news with #Ryosei Akazawa
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
US-Japan trade deal guarantees lowest tariff rates for chips, pharma, Japanese official says
By Makiko Yamazaki TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan's leading trade negotiator said on Tuesday that the trade deal Tokyo agreed with the United States last week guarantees Japan will always receive the lowest tariff rate on chips and pharmaceuticals of all the pacts negotiated by Washington. "If a third country agrees with the United States on lower rates on chips and pharmaceuticals, those lower rates would apply to Japan," Ryosei Akazawa told a news conference. The European Union secured a 15% baseline tariff as part of a framework trade deal with the U.S. this week, averting looming new tariffs on chips and pharmaceuticals. Japan last week struck a trade deal with the U.S. that lowers tariffs on cars and other goods to 15% in exchange for a U.S.-bound $550 billion Japanese investment package including equity, loans and guarantees. Asked why there has been no joint statement on the agreement, Akazawa said Japan is prioritising having President Donald Trump sign an executive order to bring the agreed 15% tariff rate into effect. "We want to concentrate our efforts on getting the tariffs lowered first, and then we can consider whether an official document on the agreement is necessary," he said.
Reuters
3 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
US-Japan trade deal guarantees lowest tariff rates for chips, pharma, Japanese official says
TOKYO, July 29 (Reuters) - Japan's leading trade negotiator said on Tuesday that the trade deal Tokyo agreed with the United States last week guarantees Japan will always receive the lowest tariff rate on chips and pharmaceuticals of all the pacts negotiated by Washington. "If a third country agrees with the United States on lower rates on chips and pharmaceuticals, those lower rates would apply to Japan," Ryosei Akazawa told a news conference. The European Union secured a 15% baseline tariff as part of a framework trade deal with the U.S. this week, averting looming new tariffs on chips and pharmaceuticals. Japan last week struck a trade deal with the U.S. that lowers tariffs on cars and other goods to 15% in exchange for a U.S.-bound $550 billion Japanese investment package including equity, loans and guarantees. Asked why there has been no joint statement on the agreement, Akazawa said Japan is prioritising having President Donald Trump sign an executive order to bring the agreed 15% tariff rate into effect. "We want to concentrate our efforts on getting the tariffs lowered first, and then we can consider whether an official document on the agreement is necessary," he said.
Japan Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Japan Times
Japan should take all possible measures to raise wages, white paper says
In an annual white paper on Tuesday the government underlined the need to take all possible measures to realize wage increases that outpace inflation. Although mainly major companies have continued to raise wages, consumption recovery remains weak due to rising prices, said the Annual Report on the Japanese Economy and Public Finance for fiscal 2025, which was submitted to the day's Cabinet meeting by Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Ryosei Akazawa. It stressed that, amid concerns over risks from the U.S. high-tariff policy, now is a turning point for whether Japan can transform its economy into a growth-oriented one based on wage hikes. Prolonged high prices for food and other goods have pushed down consumer sentiment and real wages, the white paper analyzed. Furthermore, it said that predictions for continued price climbs and low expectations for lasting wage hikes have curbed consumption. Price levels predicted by households have risen. According to a Bank of Japan survey conducted from January to March this year, the expected rate of inflation one year later was around 10%, and the expected average rate of inflation over the next five years stood at around 5%. As a result, consumer spending, which accounts for more than half of Japan's gross domestic product, has continued to lack strength compared with wage and income growth, the paper explained. To realize a powerful recovery of consumption, stable price climbs and sustained wage hikes that surpass them are essential, it added.
Wall Street Journal
3 days ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
U.S. Promised Windfalls From Japan Deal. Tokyo Has Other Ideas.
TOKYO—Japan is playing down the risks from its trade deal with President Trump after the White House said the U.S. would direct $550 billion in investments by Japan and keep 90% of the profit. Tokyo's chief negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, said Monday that the government bank at the center of the investment deal would strictly review the projects it is asked to finance and approve only those that comply with Japanese law. Critics of the deal have suggested Tokyo would have to follow Trump's orders on what to fund, potentially threatening the finances of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, or JBIC.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's Big Trade Deal With Japan Is Already Falling Apart
'I just signed the largest trade deal in history, I think maybe the largest deal in history, with Japan,' Trump boasted Tuesday. But a new report from The Financial Times demonstrates that U.S. and Japanese officials don't see eye to eye on what exactly the countries agreed upon. According to Trump and his administration, in return for a reduction in tariffs, Japan would invest $550 billion in certain U.S. sectors and give the United States 90 percent of the profits. But Japanese officials say profit sharing under the agreement isn't so set in stone: A Friday slideshow presentation in Japan's Cabinet Office, contra the White House, said profit distribution would be 'based on the degree of contribution and risk taken by each party,' per The Financial Times. The FT also reports conflicting messages between Washington and Tokyo as to whether that $550 billion commitment is, as team Trump sees it, a guarantee or, as Japan's negotiator Ryosei Akazawa sees it, an upper limit and not 'a target or commitment.' Mireya Solís, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told The Financial Times that the deal contains 'nothing inspiring,' as 'both sides made promises that we can't be sure will be kept' and 'there are no guarantees on what the actual level of investments from Japan will be.' The inconsistent interpretations of the deal could possibly be owing to the fact that it was hastily pulled together over the course of an hour and 10 minutes between Trump and Akazawa on Tuesday, according to the FT, which cited 'officials familiar with the U.S.-Japan talks.' And, moreover, 'Japanese officials said there was no written agreement with Washington—and no legally binding one would be drawn up.' Some are thus beginning to wonder whether Trump's avowed 'largest deal in history' even technically counts as a deal at all. Brad Setser, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote on X: 'If something like this is not 'papered' it isn't really a deal.' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
