Latest news with #JapanUSRelations
NHK
3 days ago
- Business
- NHK
Japan's top negotiator to head to US for another round of tariff talks
Japanese Economic Revitalization Minister Akazawa Ryosei will leave for Washington on Thursday for another round of negotiations on US tariff measures. Arrangements are underway for Akazawa, who is Japan's top negotiator in the talks, to meet with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and others during the four-day trip. It will be his seventh trip there for tariff negotiations. Ahead of his departure, Akazawa met with Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi Yoshimasa on Wednesday to confirm principles for the negotiations. Akazawa said he has done various preparations, such as making materials available to try to win over the US negotiators. The two countries have yet to bridge their gap on auto tariffs and other issues. Ishiba and US President Donald Trump met on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit meeting in Canada earlier this month. But they failed to reach an agreement. Given the situation, Akazawa is expected to once again tell the US side that Japan intends to help cut America's trade deficit through massive investments and by increasing imports, and urge the US to lower tariffs on automobile imports. The Japanese government aims to agree on a package agreement with the US. The focus is on whether the two sides will be able to move closer together on auto tariff rates.
Free Malaysia Today
5 days ago
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Japan PM Ishiba says disagreements remain with US on tariff talks
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba listens during a working session at the G7 Summit in Kananaskis. (AP pic) CALGARY : Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said his country has not reached a comprehensive tariff agreement with the US as some disagreements persist between the two nations. Ishiba, talking to reporters after the Group of Seven leaders' summit in Canada on Tuesday, emphasised the importance of securing a trade deal that benefits both countries while safeguarding Japan's national interests. Ishiba, who was at his first G7 summit as prime minister, held tariff talks with US President Donald Trump on Monday, but the meeting ended without an agreement to lower or eliminate the 25% tariff Trump has imposed on Japanese auto imports. Ishiba said US tariff measures were impacting the earnings of many Japanese companies, including those in the automobile sector, while causing a significant impact on the global economy. 'Both Japan and the US have continued sincere discussions, exploring the possibility of an agreement until the last moment,' he said. But Ishiba added there still remain points of disagreement between the two sides. Ishiba's news conference in Calgary, Canada was held following a gathering of G7 leaders at the nearby Kananaskis mountain resort in the Canadian Rockies. Ishiba also met other leaders for bilateral talks, including his first meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The Japanese leader also discussed security relations with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung before heading back to Tokyo. The summit ended without a joint statement of support from the group for Ukraine after Trump expressed support for Russian President Vladimir Putin and left the event a day early to address the Israel-Iran conflict. On the Middle East, Ishiba said he had told G7 leaders that Iran's nuclear development was 'never tolerable' while stressing the importance of diplomatic efforts through dialogue. Ishiba will participate in the Nato summit in the Netherlands next week, he added.
The Independent
21-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Japan pulls out of talks with Trump administration after ‘being ordered to spend more on defence'
Japan has cancelled an annual security meeting with the US after the Donald Trump administration told the country it had to spend more on defence. US secretary of state Marco Rubio and defence secretary Pete Hegseth were set to meet the Japanese defence minister Gen Nakatani and foreign minister Takeshi Iwaya in Washington on 1 July for annual '2+2' security talks, a reference to the two senior ministers involved on each side. However, Japan cancelled the meeting after the US demanded Japan increase its defence spending to 3.5% of GDP, an increase on an earlier request of 3 per cent, according to a report on Friday by the Financial Times. This new demand was made the third-most senior official at the Pentagon Elbridge Colby, the paper added. Without citing any reason, a US official asking to be anonymous confirmed to Reuters that Japan had 'postponed' the meeting several weeks ago. Japan and the US have not discussed these targets for higher spending, a Japanese foreign ministry official requesting anonymity told Reuters. On Saturday, chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said US allies in Asia need to spend 5 per cent of their GDP on defence. 'European allies are now setting the global standard for our alliances, especially in Asia, which is 5 per cent of GDP spending on defence. Given the enormous military buildup of China, as well as North Korea's ongoing nuclear and missile developments, it is only common sense for Asia-Pacific allies to move rapidly to step up to match Europe's pace and level of defence spending,' Mr Parnell told Nikkei. In March, Mr Trump had said: 'We have a great relationship with Japan, but we have an interesting deal with Japan that we have to protect them, but they don't have to protect us. 'That's the way the deal reads. We have to protect Japan. And, by the way, they make a fortune with us economically. I actually ask, who makes these deals?' The deal Mr Trump is referring to is the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security, signed by Japan and the US in 1951 and revised in 1960, which requires the US to defend Japan if attacked. The deal combined with Japan's post-war pacifist constitution to provide the country with security guarantees, given it was obliged not to have an armed forces of its own. It did not include an obligation for Japan to defend the US in return. As part of the agreement, the US is able to maintain military bases in Japan, key strategic footholds west of the Pacific. Responding during a parliamentary session, Japanese prime minister Shigeru Ishiba said: 'Japan has no obligation to protect the US, that is true, but Japan is obliged to provide bases for the US. I am surprised that President Trump said this.' Japan's previous prime minister Fumio Kishida doubled the country's proposed defence spending from a previous cap of just 1 per cent in 2022, itself a controversial move for many Japanese people who still favour pacifism. One of the Japanese government's top priorities at the start of Mr Trump's second term was to convince him that this was already a big shift in Japan's commitment to defence spending. Mr Colby, who was then the nominee for US defence undersecretary, had said in March that Japan should go further and increase its defence budget to 3 per cent of its gross domestic product. 'It makes little sense for Japan, which is directly threatened by China and North Korea, to spend only 2 per cent,' he had said in a confirmation hearing before the Senate armed services committee. Responding to Mr Colby's statement, Mr Ishiba said other nations would not decide Japan's defence budget. 'Japan decides its defence budget by itself,' Mr Ishiba told a parliamentary committee meeting. 'It should not be decided based on what other nations tell it to do.' Japan's decision to cancel the 2+2 meeting comes while the two nations are in the midst of trade talks to avert Mr Trump's 'reciprocal' tariffs of 25 per cent on Japanese cars and 24 per cent on other imports. The tariffs are currently paused until 9 July. Japan is set to attend the Nato summit on 24-25 June in The Hague, where it is expected that Mr Trump will press his demand for European allies to boost their defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP. No member of Nato currently spends 5 per cent of GDP on defence. That includes the US itself, which commits around 3.4 per cent. Poland is the closest to meeting the figure with 4.1 per cent, while the UK is ninth out of the 32 member states with 2.3 per cent.
Reuters
20-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Japan scraps US meeting after Washington demands more defense spending -FT
WASHINGTON, June 20 (Reuters) - Japan has canceled a regular high-level meeting with its key ally the United States after the Trump administration demanded it spend more on defense, the Financial Times reported on Friday. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had been expected to meet their Japanese counterparts in Washington on July 1 for annual 2+2 security talks. But Tokyo scrapped the meeting after the U.S. side asked Japan to boost defense spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP, higher than an earlier request of 3 per cent, the paper cited unnamed sources familiar with the matter, including two officials in Tokyo, as saying. A U.S. official who did not want to be identified confirmed Japan had "postponed" the talks but said the decision was made several weeks ago. The source did not cite a reason. A non-government source familiar with the issue said he had also heard Japan had pulled out of the meeting, but not the reason for it doing so. U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said she had no comment on the FT report when asked about it at regular briefing, and the Pentagon also had no immediate comment. Japan's embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment. The Financial Times said the new higher spending demand was made in recent weeks by Elbridge Colby, the third-most senior Pentagon official, who has also recently upset another key U.S. ally in the Indo-Pacific by launching a review of a project to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. In March, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said that other nations do not decide Japan's defense budget after Colby called in his nomination hearing to be under secretary of defense for policy for Tokyo to spend more to counter China. Japan and other U.S. allies have been engaged in difficult trade talks with the United States over U.S. President Donald Trump's worldwide tariff offensive. The FT said the decision to cancel the July 1 meeting was also related to Japan's July 20 Upper House elections, at which the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is expected to suffer a loss of seats. It comes ahead of a meeting of the U.S.-led NATO alliance in Europe next week, at which Trump is expected to press his demand that European allies boost their defense spending to 5 percent of GDP.
NHK
20-06-2025
- Business
- NHK
Middle East tensions force Japan into tariff-talk rethink
Tensions in the Middle East are forcing Japan to rethink its strategy in tariff talks with the United States. Government sources point to concerns about the Trump administration being too busy with the conflict between Israel and Iran. Officials in Tokyo are looking at when the next round of tariff negotiations should be. They are also assessing the recent summit between Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and US President Donald Trump in Canada. Japan's chief tariff negotiator Akazawa Ryosei admitted to feeling a great deal of uncertainty about future negotiations. The two sides still need to narrow their differences on tariffs for automobiles and other items. Ishiba is scheduled to visit the Netherlands next week for a summit with NATO. Sources say he is not planning to meet Trump on the sidelines.
