Agency. Tokyo said on Monday that the United States and Japan have agreed to “speed up” efforts towards a deal in their latest tariff talks.
Japan, a major U.S. ally and its biggest investor, is subject to the same 10% basic tariffs imposed in most countries and stricter tariffs on cars, steel and aluminum.
Us President Donald Trump announced a 24 percent “reciprocal” customs duty on Japan in early April, but later postponed them until early July along with similar measures on other countries.
Japan wants to remove all customs duties on its imports announced by Trump. Tokyo’s customs duty envoy, Riosi Akazawa, held a third round of talks in Washington over the weekend and is scheduled to return this week.
Japan’s top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Monday that the two countries had confirmed that they would “intensify efforts to realize a mutually beneficial agreement”.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Sigeru Ishiba also said that “progress” had been made in the latest round of talks in Akazawa. Ishiba suggested that the two leaders met at the annual G7 meeting in Canada next month, aiming to reach a deal with Trump.
“I expect further discussions to continue with the G-7 summit in mind,” Ishiba told reporters on Sunday. Ishiba, who met Trump at the White House in February, spoke to the president on the phone for about 45 minutes last week.
According to local media, Japan’s negotiating chips, including icebreaks, have been cited as its technical efficiency in shipbuilding. “The United States is interested in repairing U.S. warships from Japan, which we are ready to support,” public broadcaster NHK quoted Ishiba as saying.
According to Masayoshi Sun, founder of SoftBank and a friend of Trump, the idea of a U.S.-Japanese sovereign wealth fund is another potential sweetness.
The fund, which was directly negotiated between Sun and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant, will invest heavily in technology and infrastructure across the United States. SoftBank declined to comment when contacted by AFP. Trump’s 25 percent auto customs duty is particularly painful for Tokyo because about eight percent of all Japanese jobs are linked to the sector.
The world’s fourth-largest economy contracted by 0.2 percent in the first quarter of 2025, increasing pressure on unpopular ISIBA ahead of the Upper House elections in July.
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