Negotiations between Japan and the U.S. are underway in Washington, within the first actual check of whether or not U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs will result in new commerce offers.
Trump, posting on social media on Wednesday, appears pleased with talks thus far. “A Nice Honor to have simply met with the Japanese Delegation on Commerce. Massive Progress!” he wrote in a put up on Reality Social.
Aside from Trump’s put up, there have been few particulars from Japanese and U.S. negotiators. The assembly included the U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Commerce Consultant Jamieson Greer. The Japanese facet is led by Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s financial revitalization minister and its chief tariff negotiator.
The one publicly acknowledged end result from the assembly was that the 2 sides are scheduled to fulfill once more.
Akazawa did inform reporters that one difficulty wasn’t introduced up: Trade charges. The Trump administration has accused economies like Japan of manipulating their currencies to get a bonus on commerce.
Can Japan get a commerce deal?
Japan is a significant check of the Trump administration’s willingness to signal commerce offers with its closest allies and largest buying and selling companions. The Asian nation, together with South Korea, Australia, the U.Ok. and India, is among the many U.S.’s prime priorities for negotiations, the Wall Road Journal reported earlier this week.
Japanese shares rose barely on Thursday, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 index rising by 1.35% by market shut.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba advised reporters on Thursday that there are nonetheless “nonetheless gaps between the respective stances of Japan and the U.S.,” and warned that additional negotiations is not going to be simple.
Japan is certainly one of a number of Asian nations which can be bearing the brunt of Trump’s tariffs. Even earlier than “Liberation Day,” Trump’s 25% tariff on auto and metal imports posed a major risk to Japan’s financial system.
On April 2, Trump slapped a 24% tariff on all imports from Japan; he later paused these tariffs by 90 days to permit for negotiations. As of now, Japanese imports face a baseline 10% tariff, although automobiles and metal nonetheless get a 25% tax on prime of that.
In a put up forward of his assembly with Japan, Trump mentioned he would deliver up “tariffs, the price of navy help, and ‘TRADE FAIRNESS’”.
Different world leaders are possible watching the end result of Trump’s negotiations with Japan. Tokyo has signaled that it’s not going to supply massive concessions to the president to get a deal.
Within the meantime, Ishiba is on the cellphone with different world leaders whereas his level particular person on commerce continues to work in Washington. Public broadcaster NHK reviews that Japan’s prime minister spoke individually with French President Emmanuel Macron and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to debate how greatest to cope with U.S. tariffs.
This story was initially featured on Fortune.com