U.S. Treasury Sec. Bessent Planning to Visit Osaka Expo

Yomiuri Shimbun

18 hours ago

WASHINGTON (Jiji Press) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent plans to visit the ongoing World Exposition in the city of Osaka in western Japan, U.S. government sources said Tuesday.
Bessent held phone talks with Japanese economic revitalization minister Ryosei Akazawa on Tuesday.
Attention will be paid to whether Bessent and Akazawa will meet in person for tariff talks during the treasury chief's visit to Japan. Akazawa serves as Japan's chief negotiator on tariff issues with the United States.
July 19 has been designated as the United States' 'national day' for the Expo, and a delegation from the U.S. government is also expected to join the event.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump informed Japan in a letter Monday that it will impose 25% tariffs on Japanese products.
At the same time, the Trump administration extended until Aug. 1 the pause on additional reciprocal tariffs, originally scheduled to end Wednesday this week. The administration also said it may lower the tariff rate depending on market liberalization or abolition of nontariff barriers, apparently trying to win concessions from Japan through negotiations.
Outlooks for the course of U.S.-Japan negotiations are increasingly unclear, however, as it is difficult for Japan to make concessions easily ahead of the July 20 election for the country's House of Councillors, the upper chamber of parliament.
Trump has shown his discontent over its rice and automobile trade with Japan.
In Tuesday's 30-minute phone talks, Bessent and Akazawa confirmed that the two countries will energetically continue tariff negotiations, according to the Japanese government. Akazawa said that Japan and the United States will seek the possibility of reaching an agreement that will benefit both sides.
Akazawa has visited the United States seven times for tariff talks with U.S. officials including Bessent. No Akazawa-Bessent meeting took place during the seventh visit in late June.
On the planned Aug. 1 expiration of the pause on additional reciprocal tariffs, Trump said on social media Tuesday, 'There has been no change to this date, and there will be no change.' He also said, 'In other words, all money will be due and payable starting August 1, 2025,' adding, 'No extensions will be granted.'
Also on Tuesday, Trump told reporters at the White House that it is the time for his nation to begin collecting tariffs from countries that have exploited the United States.