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Kyodo News
7 hours ago
- Business
- Kyodo News
Japan, U.S. agree to continue tariff talks as July deadline looms
KYODO NEWS - 5 hours ago - 04:47 | All, Japan, World Japanese and U.S. negotiators agreed Friday to continue talks toward a tariff deal that will be beneficial to both countries. Japan's government said its top tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick held talks in Washington, with each side reaffirming its position during "fruitful" discussions on trade expansion, nontariff measures and economic security cooperation. The meeting between Akazawa and Lutnick, which lasted about an hour, took place as U.S. President Donald Trump and his trade team increasingly suggest they could give trading partners now in talks with Washington more time to negotiate beyond early July, when his administration's 90-day pause on so-called reciprocal tariffs is set to expire. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday that the Trump administration could complete negotiations with key trading partners by Sept. 1. In a Fox Business interview, Bessent said, "I think we could have trade wrapped up by Labor Day" if the United States can make "10 or 12" deals among its 18 highest-priority trading partners and seal "another important 20 relationships" with new agreements. Japan is among the 18 trading partners, also including the European Union, India and South Korea, with which the Trump administration has prioritized making deals. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt also said at a press briefing on Thursday that the 90-day pause that Trump put in place to facilitate negotiations could be extended. On Friday, when asked what he might do with the suspension, set to expire July 9, Trump said, "We can do whatever we want. We could extend it. We could make it shorter." "I'd like to make it shorter. I'd like to just send letters out to everybody: 'Congratulations, you're paying 25 percent,'" he added during a press conference at the White House. The Japanese negotiator arrived in Washington on Thursday for his seventh round of ministerial meetings on tariffs with the United States. He could also hold talks later Friday with Bessent. Akazawa's visit through Saturday comes after Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Trump failed to strike a deal on tariffs last week when they met bilaterally on the sidelines of a Group of Seven summit in Canada. The 90-day pause applies only to country-specific tariffs under Trump's reciprocal scheme, covering about 60 trading partners that have notable trade surpluses with the United States. It does not affect his baseline duty of 10 percent, targeting imports from all parts of the world. Japan is facing an additional country-specific tariff of 14 percent, for a total rate of 24 percent. But the Trump administration's additional tariffs targeting the automotive industry, which are not subject to the pause, have been a particular concern for Japan. The administration raised the tariff rate on imported passenger vehicles by 25 percentage points to 27.5 percent in early April, and the move is already hitting the industry hard. Related coverage: U.S. State Secretary Rubio's 1st visit to Japan eyed for July Trump could extend 90-day tariff pause in July, White House says Japan reiterates that higher U.S. auto tariffs are unacceptable
The Hill
9 hours ago
- Business
- The Hill
Trump moves toward mineral deals
The Big Story The Trump administration is announcing they've reached a trade agreement with China that includes mineral provisions — and is seeking further agreements with Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. © Greg Nash The Trump administration reached an agreement with China this week focused on rare earth exports to the U.S., building on previous talks between the two nations that eased tariffs on imports from Beijing. 'We had trade talks in Geneva towards moving toward the agreement in London. Part of the agreement was tariffs coming down and rare earth, rare earth magnets starting to flow back to the U.S.— they formed the core of our industrial base. They were not flowing as fast as previously agreed,' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday on Fox Business's 'Mornings With Maria.' The agreement was then signed earlier this week, which the administration is describing as a de-escalation of the U.S.-China trade war. 'I am confident now that we, as agreed, the magnets will flow. In the meantime, we had put countermeasures versus the Chinese in place. We had held back some, the vital supplies for them. So, what we're seeing here is a de-escalation under President Trump's leadership,' Bessent said. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick later told Bloomberg TV the deal, which was struck in London, was signed earlier this week. 'The China deal, we inked the deal — you remember, we had a trip to Geneva and then that was being slow-played. We got back together in London and that deal was signed and sealed two days ago,' Lutnick said. Lutnick also told Bloomberg that China will 'deliver rare earths to us' and that afterward, the U.S. will 'take down our countermeasures.' Massad Boulous, Trump's senior advisor for Africa and father-in-law to his daughter Tiffany, told reporters that the U.S. was working on mineral agreements with both the DRC and Rwanda. 'We're negotiating a minerals deal with the DRC for critical minerals. Many American companies have shown interest in investing in the DRC,' he said. 'Same thing with Rwanda. Many American companies have shown interest, and not only in mining, but also in the midstream and downstream, which will be the processing of minerals.' Read more about China from Rachel and The Hill's Alex Gangitano here and read more about Africa from Rachel and The Hill's Laura Kelly here. Welcome to The Hill's Energy & Environment newsletter, I'm Rachel Frazin — keeping you up to speed on the policies impacting everything from oil and gas to new supply chains. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here. Essential Reads How policy will affect the energy and environment sectors now and in the future: DRC and Rwanda call for Trump to 'stay committed' after peace deal The top diplomats from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda urged President Trump to stay committed to enforcing a peace agreement between the two countries signed in Washington on Friday. Record-breaking heat dome disrupts summer school, student activities This week's heat dome put a big hole in summer school. Summer classes and other events for students across the country were disrupted by swelteringly high temperatures, a warning of climate-related education disruptions to come. Environmental groups sue to block 'Alligator Alcatraz' A coalition of environmental groups on Friday sued over the Trump administration's plans to build a detention center in the Everglades that critics have dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz.' What We're Reading News we've flagged from other outlets touching on energy issues, the environment and other topics: Italy chemical plant execs jailed for pollution (AFP) What Others are Reading Two key stories on The Hill right now: GOP leader sets Saturday vote on Trump 'big, beautiful bill' despite Republican pushback Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told Senate Republicans to expect to see the legislative text of the budget reconciliation package on Friday evening and then to vote at noon Saturday to begin debate on President Trump's tax and spending bill. Read more 5 takeaways from the Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling The Supreme Court handed President Trump a clear victory Friday, stopping judges from issuing nationwide injunctions that block his executive order narrowing birthright citizenship. Read more You're all caught up. See you next time! Thank you for signing up! Subscribe to more newsletters here
Japan Today
11 hours ago
- Business
- Japan Today
Japan, U.S. agree to continue tariff talks as July deadline looms
Japanese and U.S. negotiators agreed Friday to continue talks toward a tariff deal that will be beneficial to both countries. Japan's government said its top tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick held talks in Washington, with each side reaffirming its position during "fruitful" discussions on trade expansion, nontariff measures and economic security cooperation. The meeting between Akazawa and Lutnick, which lasted about an hour, took place as U.S. President Donald Trump and his trade team increasingly suggest they could give trading partners now in talks with Washington more time to negotiate beyond early July, when his administration's 90-day pause on so-called reciprocal tariffs is set to expire. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday that the Trump administration could complete negotiations with key trading partners by Sept. 1. In a Fox Business interview, Bessent said, "I think we could have trade wrapped up by Labor Day" if the United States can make "10 or 12" deals among its 18 highest-priority trading partners and seal "another important 20 relationships" with new agreements. Japan is among the 18 trading partners, also including the European Union, India and South Korea, with which the Trump administration has prioritized making deals. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt also said at a press briefing on Thursday that the 90-day pause that Trump put in place to facilitate negotiations could be extended. On Friday, when asked what he might do with the suspension, set to expire July 9, Trump said, "We can do whatever we want. We could extend it. We could make it shorter." "I'd like to make it shorter. I'd like to just send letters out to everybody: 'Congratulations, you're paying 25 percent,'" he added during a press conference at the White House. The Japanese negotiator arrived in Washington on Thursday for his seventh round of ministerial meetings on tariffs with the United States. He could also hold talks later Friday with Bessent. Akazawa's visit through Saturday comes after Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Trump failed to strike a deal on tariffs last week when they met bilaterally on the sidelines of a Group of Seven summit in Canada. The 90-day pause applies only to country-specific tariffs under Trump's reciprocal scheme, covering about 60 trading partners that have notable trade surpluses with the United States. It does not affect his baseline duty of 10 percent, targeting imports from all parts of the world. Japan is facing an additional country-specific tariff of 14 percent, for a total rate of 24 percent. But the Trump administration's additional tariffs targeting the automotive industry, which are not subject to the pause, have been a particular concern for Japan. The administration raised the tariff rate on imported passenger vehicles by 25 percentage points to 27.5 percent in early April, and the move is already hitting the industry hard. © KYODO
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Business Standard
13 hours ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Trump warns of July 9 tariff hike as Treasury Chief Bessent hints delay
President Donald Trump hardened his threat to raise tariffs on certain countries by his July 9 deadline, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signaled there may be some extensions to wrap up major pacts by the Labor Day holiday. The statements Friday are the latest sign that some negotiations with larger partners may extend past early July, but that Trump is weighing higher rates for smaller economies that have not reached agreements with the US. 'At a certain point over the next week and a half or so, or maybe before, we're going to send out a letter, we talked to many of the countries that we're just going to tell them what they have to pay to do business in the United States,' Trump said Friday at a White House press conference. 'We can do whatever we want. We could extend it, we could make it shorter,' Trump said. 'I'd like to make it shorter. I'd like to just sent letters out to everybody, 'Congratulations, you're paying 25 per cent.'' Taken together, the remarks injected further uncertainty into what the president will decide when it comes to tariff levels for some of the country's top trading partners. Earlier in the day, Bessent said on Fox Business 'we have countries approaching us with very good deals' but said that they all might not be finished by the date when Trump's April 2 country-based tariffs are set to kick back in. 'If we can ink 10 or 12 of the important 18 — there are another important 20 relationships — then I think we could have trade wrapped up by Labor Day,' Bessent said. This year, Labor Day falls on Sept. 1. Nearly five dozen countries and the European Union are facing higher rates on July 9, barring a deal. Later, when asked about Bessent's comments, Trump declined to respond directly when asked which countries may be completed by Labor Day. The Treasury chief reiterated that there are 18 important trading partners, and noted that the US has already done a deal with the UK and reached an accommodation with China, so those two 'are behind us for now.' Trump in April put tariffs on dozens of American trading partners on pause for three months a week after declaring them, when markets panicked over the possibility they could trigger a global recession. 'We're going to do top 10 deals, put them in the right category, and then these other countries will fit behind,' Lutnick said. Trump and his advisers initially laid out ambitious plans for the negotiating period, suggesting concurrent talks with dozens of partners on reducing trade deficits, eliminating barriers to American goods and reshoring more manufacturing. 'We've got 90 deals in 90 days possibly pending here. And it was par for the course, actually it was a birdie for President Trump to do exactly what he did, which was pause for 90 days,' White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told NBC's Meet the Press back in April. EU officials are optimistic they can reach a deal by the July 9 deadline to avoid a tariff hike. Trump has threatened a 50 per cent levy on the bloc, which is planning its own countermeasures. Scope of Deals But that has not happened, as some trading partners have dug in on negotiations and with Trump indicating he would be willing to just unilaterally impose tariff levels if he was unhappy with the terms obtained in talks. It is also unclear how comprehensive the trade deals the administration is moving to lock up will be. Such agreements can typically take years to negotiate. The pact with the UK that Trump has hailed as comprehensive still leaves critical points unresolved, and the China accord leaves open questions about fentanyl trafficking and US exporters' access to Chinese markets. Trump has suggested India is one nation that could be close to finalizing a deal. A team of Indian trade officials was slated to hold meetings with officials in Washington this week. Bessent separately said Friday that the US isn't looking to reshore all types of manufacturing, but instead focus on higher-value products. 'High-End' Reshoring 'We are going to bring back precision manufacturing jobs,' he said at an event held by the Faith & Freedom Coalition. 'We're not going to make socks and towels again,' he added, noting that he recently took criticism for saying that the textile output of his childhood in South Carolina wasn't going to return. 'We're going to have high-end, craft manufacturing,' he continued, citing uniforms for first responders and US military as examples. The Treasury chief said South Carolina was among the places that were 'left by the wayside' following China's entry into the World Trade Organization, a time he characterized as 'capitalism without guardrails.'
AU Financial Review
14 hours ago
- Business
- AU Financial Review
Bessent says key trade deals could be completed by September
Washington | Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration's agenda for trade agreements could get wrapped up by the Labor Day holiday, indicating some negotiations are likely to extend past the upcoming July deadline for elevated reciprocal tariffs. 'We have countries approaching us with very good deals,' Bessent said Friday (Saturday AEST) on Fox Business, highlighting Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's comments the day before that the White House has imminent plans to reach agreements with 10 major trading partners.
