Japan, US hold 2nd round of tariff talks, eyeing June deal
Japan and the United States held the second round of their tariff negotiations in Washington on Thursday, with an eye toward an agreement between their leaders in June.
"We further deepened our concrete discussions on trade expansion, nontariff barriers, economic security and other fields," Japan's top negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, said after the meeting.
The two sides agreed to hold the next ministerial meeting as early as mid-May, aiming to reach an agreement between their leaders the following month.
On the possibility of a June agreement, economic revitalisation minister Akazawa said, "It'll be good if we find ourselves at that stage."
In Thursday's 130-minute session, held at the Treasury Department, Akazawa met with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
"We made progress toward reaching an agreement as soon as possible," Akazawa said.
He added that the two sides engaged in in-depth discussions on their primary interests.
Akazawa stopped short of disclosing details of what was discussed in the areas of trade expansion and nontariff barriers.
But the two sides may have talked about further boosting and facilitating imports of automobiles and agricultural products from the United States to Japan, given that US President Donald Trump has been pressing for a cut in the US trade deficit with the Asian nation.
On the other hand, the topics of foreign exchange markets and national security were not discussed at Thursday's talks, according to Akazawa.
Akazawa said he told the US side that the Trump administration's tariff measures are extremely regrettable and urged Washington to reconsider its tariff policy, including the additional tariffs imposed on automobiles.
In Tokyo on Friday Japan time, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told reporters, "As we're negotiating with our national interest at stake, we're both making a maximum effort in order to seek out common ground." While constructive, in-depth discussions were held, "we're in no situation where we can find common ground as of this moment," Ishiba said.
He warned against damaging national interests by rushing to conclude the negotiations, stressing that there is no change in Tokyo's position of seeking the removal of additional US tariffs on imports from Japan.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
Photo by Reuters
