Japan’s chief trade negotiator to visit Washington for tariff talks this week

Audio By Carbonatix

Enlarge

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s chief trade negotiator will visit the United States this week for talks aimed at convincing U.S. President Donald Trump to remove tariff measures against the East Asian country, officials said Tuesday.

Economic Revitalization Minister Ryosei Akazawa will be in Washington from Wednesday to Friday for talks with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, according to Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi.

The visit is to “build a relationship of trust” between the two sides, with Japan requesting the U.S. side to drop the tariff measures, Hayashi said. “The government will tackle the challenge and work as one so that we can resolve the issue as soon as possible.”

Japan is among the first countries to start negotiations with the U.S.

“I will carefully think what will best serve Japan’s national interest, what will be most effective and do my utmost in the negotiation,” Akazawa told reporters Tuesday.

Trump last week abruptly announced a 90-day pause on the latest series of duties, which put Japan’s 24% across-the-board on hold, but the 10% baseline tariff and a 25% tariff on cars, auto parts, steel and aluminum exports to the U.S. are kept in place.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba described the situation as “a national crisis.”

Ishiba, however, told a parliamentary session Monday that “haste makes waste” and that he was in no rush to conclude the negotiations with the U.S. He also said Japan is not retaliating with tariffs against the United States, saying the measures weren’t beneficial.

With concerns rising that U.S. tariffs may deal a serious blow to Japan’s economy, Ishiba’s government seeks to cooperate and exchange views with other countries that support free trade and multilateralism.

Later Monday, Ishiba held telephone talks with Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong about the impact of U.S. tariffs on the two major Asian economies. Ishiba also held phone talks with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer last week.

Japan, China and South Korea held talks in March just before Trump’s tariffs went into effect, emphasizing their support for free trade and cooperation, with China expressing enthusiasm to push forward negotiations toward setting up their trilateral trade framework.