[TOKYO] Japan’s chief trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa indicated his aim to resolve tariff talks in time for a June meeting between US President Donald Trump and Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba following Trump’s surprise pivot to allow a partnership between two of the countries’ steelmakers.
“It’s been confirmed that the leaders of the two nations are looking forward to their meeting,” Akazawa told reporters in Washington on Friday (May 23) after meeting US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and USTR Jamieson Greer. “We will do our best with that in mind.”
Akazawa’s remarks follow a phone call between Trump and Ishiba pledging to meet on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) summit next month. Hours after that, Trump indicated his approval for a partnership between Nippon Steel and United States Steel, raising hopes that the president may be more willing to listen to Japan’s position.
The US president said the partnership would create at least 70,000 jobs and add US$14 billion to the US economy. Leveraging the significance of Japan’s investment in the US economy is among the tactics Tokyo is likely using to win concessions from Washington on tariffs. Japan had the largest stockpile of foreign direct investment in the US in the five years to 2023, Department of Commerce data shows.
Akazawa said the investment by Nippon Steel will help the US economy, though he declined to comment on the implications of a corporate deal for the trade talks or whether the deal is a buyout prior to an official announcement by the US.
A separate Cabinet Office statement said that Akazawa had firmly requested that the US reconsider its tariffs on Japan. Akazawa said the talks centred on expanding trade, non-tariff measures and cooperation on economic security, and they had been franker and gone deeper than before.
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As with other nations, Trump has slapped Japan with a 25 per cent levy on autos, steel and aluminium and a 10 per cent across-the-board tariff. The so-called reciprocal tariff is set to be raised to 24 per cent in early July, barring a deal.
Cars and auto parts comprise around a third of all exports to the US from Japan. The auto industry is a key driver of growth for Japan’s economy and employs around 8 per cent of the workforce.
With an upper house election coming up this summer, reaching a trade deal could help boost Ishiba’s approval ratings, which have dropped to the lowest levels of his premiership. Still, a deal that gives too much ground to the US, especially in the farming sector, without addressing auto tariffs could also backfire.
For Akazawa, this was the third round of top-level trade talks with his US counterparts. He is expected to revisit the US to meet Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent next week. Speaking ahead of Friday’s meetings, Akazawa stressed the need of reaching the deal as a package and warned against rushing to it.
“It’s meaningless to talk about how close you have come for negotiation because, as it’s been said in English, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed,” Akazawa said. BLOOMBERG
