Japan sticking to demand for US to eliminate tariffs, trade envoy says

TOKYO – Japan’s top trade negotiator, Mr Ryosei Akazawa, said on May 20 that there was no change to Tokyo’s stance of demanding the 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, is regrettable. There’s no change to our stance of seeking a review, which is to say an elimination, of them,” Mr Akazawa told a regular press conference.

He said the two countries held working-level trade talks in Washington on May 19. The schedule of a third round of ministerial-level negotiations was yet to be fixed, he added.

Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported on May 20 that Mr Akazawa will travel to Washington this week to attend the third round of talks potentially starting on May 23.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is expected to attend the talks, while US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will be absent, Kyodo reported without citing sources.

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 US 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 US 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 told Reuters that Japan is considering a package of proposals – which may include increased imports of US corn and soya, technical cooperation in shipbuilding, and revision to inspection standards for imported automobiles – to gain US concessions. REUTERS