Japan, US tariff negotiators agree on continuing talks
Economic Revitalization Minister Akazawa Ryosei had a telephone conversation with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick for about 40 minutes on Tuesday afternoon Japan time.
The talks come after US President Donald Trump said Washington will start charging Japan a 25 percent tariff from August 1.
In a news conference after the talks, Akazawa said their discussion made some progress. He said that he expressed regret that the rate was hiked in the newly-announced tariff even though it is one percentage point, and the series of other US tariff measures are also regrettable.
Akazawa noted that he will hold further talks with the US side by visiting the country or over the telephone as needed. He added that Japanese officials will negotiate as much as possible through various channels and "vigorously hold serious and sincere talks" to reach an agreement that benefits both Japan and the US.
The Japanese minister said he has no sense of reassurance at all about the outlook. He said negotiations with the US have been held as far as possible for Japan's national interests, but President Trump is tough. Akazawa added that the US president achieved big success as a businessman and he is very numerate.
Akazawa was asked about the possibility that Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and Trump will have talks to break the impasse. He replied that this negotiation is not at all easy for the leaders to achieve a breakthrough by having a brief discussion. He said it is necessary to negotiate on details at the working level and create a package that the leaders can agree on.
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