TOKYO, May 20 — Japan’s top trade negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, said today there was no change to Tokyo’s stance of demanding an elimination of US tariffs in bilateral trade negotiations.
Tokyo will not rush into clinching a trade deal if doing so risked hurting the country’s interests, he said.
“The slew of US tariffs including reciprocal tariffs as well as those on automobiles, car parts, steel and aluminium, are regrettable. There’s no change to our stance of seeking a review, which is to say an elimination, of them,” Akazawa told a regular press conference.
Akazawa said the two countries held working-level trade talks in Washington yesterday. The schedule of a third round of ministerial-level negotiations was yet to be fixed, he added.
On April 2, US President Donald Trump imposed 10 per cent tariffs on all countries except Canada, Mexico and China, along with higher tariff rates for many big trading partners, including Japan, which faces a 24 per cent tariff rate starting in July unless it can negotiate a deal with Washington.
Japanese policymakers and ruling party lawmakers have said they see no merit in striking a deal with the United States unless a 25 per cent tariff on automobile imports is lifted, given the industry’s economic importance.
While Japan was the first major economy to start bilateral trade talks with Washington, Britain was the first to strike a deal with the Trump administration. China and the United States also agreed to a 90-day truce in their trade war that had threatened a global recession.
With initial hope of a quick deal failing, the Nikkei newspaper reported last week that Japan may water down its demand to a reduction, rather than an elimination, of US tariffs.
A source with knowledge of the negotiations has told Reuters that Japan is considering a package of proposals to gain US concessions that may include increased imports of US corn and soy, technical cooperation in shipbuilding, and revision to inspection standards for imported automobiles. — Reuters
