[KANANASKIS, Alberta] Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and US President Donald Trump agreed to push ahead with trade talks on Monday, but failed to achieve a breakthrough that would lower or eliminate tariffs that threaten to hobble the Japanese economy.
Trump and Ishiba met for 30 minutes on the sidelines of the G7 leaders summit at the Kananaskis Mountain resort in the Canadian Rockies.
Japan had hoped the sit down, only their second in-person meeting, would help spur a trade deal between the two countries. “We’ve been exploring the possibility of a deal down to the wire, but there are still points where our views remain divided,” Ishiba told reporters in Kananaskis. He declined to say on what issues Japan and the US disagreed.
Ishiba wants Trump to scrap a 25 per cent tariff on Japanese cars and a 24 per cent reciprocal tariff on other Japanese imports paused until July 9. Some economists say those duties could shave around 1 percentage points of Japan’s GDP.
“Automobiles are a major national interest. We will continue to do everything we can to protect such interests,” Ishiba said.
Trump‘s tariffs could squeeze Japan’s potential vehicle exports by US$17 billion, the United Nations’ International Trade Centre estimated in April.
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Japanese carmakers, such as Toyota Motor, Nissan Motor and smaller more tariff-vulnerable producers such as Mazda Motor, account for around a fifth of Japan’s exports.
The Japanese leader’s discussion with Trump in Canada came after six rounds of trade talks between his tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The most recent was last week, just before Ishiba arrived in Canada.
Ishiba, who is due to return to Japan on Tuesday, is also under pressure to secure an agreement before national upper house elections next month that could weaken his grip on power.
His ruling Liberal Democratic Party in October lost its majority in parliament’s lower house and another poor electoral result could potentially bring down his government.
Ishiba and Trump will get another chance this month to discuss trade directly, with the two leaders due to attend the two-day Nato summit in the Hague from June 24. REUTERS
