15-06-2025
- Automotive
- South China Morning Post
Japan's Ishiba to press Trump to drop auto tariffs at G7 summit
Japanese Prime Minister
Shigeru Ishiba heads to Canada on Sunday for trade talks with US President Donald Trump, hoping to persuade him to drop trade tariffs that have imperilled Japan's auto companies and threaten to undermine his fragile government.
The two are expected to meet on the sidelines of a
summit of the Group of Seven nations in Kananaskis, Alberta, for their second in-person encounter. It follows a sixth round of high-level trade talks in Washington on Friday.
Japan's top tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, said he explored the possibility of a deal in detailed meetings with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
'I will make every possible effort to reach an agreement that benefits both Japan and the United States,' Ishiba told reporters before leaving Japan. The timing of his meeting with Trump was still being discussed between the two countries, he added.
The trick for Ishiba, who spoke with Trump by phone on Friday, will be to get the president to drop the 25 per cent tariff he imposed on Japanese cars, as well as a paused 24 per cent across-the-board levy that Trump calls a reciprocal tariff, without making concessions that could hurt the prime minister's public support at home.
Returning to Tokyo with no deal would be better politically than conceding too much, analysts say.
