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Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Japan, US Trade Negotiators Meet as Aug. 1 Tariff Deadline Looms
Japan's chief trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa met with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Monday as an Aug. 1 deadline for higher tariffs looms. The two met in Washington for more than two hours on Monday evening, Japan's cabinet secretariat said in a statement Tuesday. They had frank, in-depth discussions toward achieving a mutually beneficial agreement, the statement said, while adding that Japan still aims to protect its national interests.
Free Malaysia Today
10-07-2025
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Japan, South Korea seek to negotiate on tariffs before August deadline
Economists warned that the long-running tariff disputes risked stunting growth and pushing up prices, causing headaches for policymakers. (AP pic) WASHINGTON : Powerhouse Asian economies Japan and South Korea said today that they would try to negotiate with the US to soften the impact of sharply higher tariffs that President Donald Trump now plans to impose from the start of August. Trump ramped up his trade war again yesterday, telling 14 nations that they would face tariffs ranging from 25% for countries including Japan and South Korea, to 40% for Laos and Myanmar. However, with the start date pushed back to Aug 1, those countries were focusing on the new three-week window to press for an easier ride. Japan wants concessions for its large automobile industry, top trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said today. Akazawa said he held a 40-minute phone call with US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick in which the two agreed to actively continue negotiations. However, he said he would not sacrifice Japan's agriculture sector – a powerful political lobby domestically – for the sake of an early deal. South Korea said it planned to intensify trade talks over the coming weeks 'to reach a mutually beneficial result'. Asked if the latest deadline was firm, Trump replied yesterday: 'I would say firm but not 100% firm. If they call up and they say we'd like to do something a different way, we're going to be open to that'. Global stocks were flat to marginally higher today, as investors took in their stride the latest twist in the tariff saga, but the yen slid on the prospect of duties on Japanese goods. Economists warned that the long-running tariff disputes risked stunting growth and pushing up prices, causing headaches for policymakers. 'The ongoing threat of higher tariffs intensifies stagflationary risks in the US and puts pressure on Europe to stimulate domestic demand further in order to offset headwinds in international trade,' said David Kohl, chief economist at Swiss-based bank Julius Baer. EU eyes deal The EU, which is the largest bilateral trade partner of the US, aims to strike a deal before Aug 1 with negotiations focused on 'rebalancing' and concessions for certain key export industries, a European source familiar with the negotiations said. However, German finance minister Lars Klingbeil warned that the EU was prepared to retaliate if necessary. 'If we don't reach a fair trade deal with the US, the EU is ready to take counter measures,' Klingbeil said today, speaking in the lower house of parliament. Some EU sources had said late yesterday that the bloc was close to an agreement with the Trump administration. This could involve limited concessions to US baseline tariffs of 10% for aircraft and parts, some medical equipment and spirits. Only two deals have been struck so far, with Britain and Vietnam. Washington and Beijing agreed to a trade framework in June, but with many of the details still unclear, traders and investors are watching to see if it unravels before a separate, US-imposed Aug 12 deadline or leads to a lasting detente. Spreading the pain Trump said the US would impose tariffs of 25% on goods from Tunisia, Malaysia and Kazakhstan, with levies of 30% on South Africa, Bosnia and Herzegovina, climbing to 32% on Indonesia, 35% on Serbia and Bangladesh, 36% on Cambodia and Thailand and 40% on Laos and Myanmar. Cambodia, hit hard by levies imposed in April, today hailed as a big success a reduction in the tariff rate from 49% to 36% and said it was seeking to negotiate a further cut. The tariffs have been an issue for Cambodia's garments and footwear sector, a major employer and the biggest driver of its economy. The US is also the main export market for Bangladesh's ready-made garments industry, which accounts for more than 80% of its export earnings and employs 4 million people. 'This is absolutely shocking news for us,' Mahmud Hasan Khan, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, told Reuters today. 'We were really hoping the tariffs would be somewhere between 10%-20%. This will hurt our industry badly,' he added.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Japan vows to seek U.S. auto tariff concessions in trade talks
By Leika Kihara TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan's trade deal with the U.S. must include tariff concessions for its vital automobile industry, top trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said on Tuesday, after President Donald Trump announced 25% tariffs on goods from Japan starting August 1. Akazawa said he held a 40-minute phone talk with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, where the two sides agreed to "actively" continue negotiations. "We are trying to agree on a package of measures" ranging from expanded trade, non-tariff barriers and cooperation on key economic security issues, Akazawa said at a news conference. "The two countries must garner trust through sincere dialogue, and reach common ground step by step. Through such a process, my job as negotiator is to agree on a full package as soon as possible." Trump on Monday began notifying trade partners of steep U.S. tariff hikes, but later indicated a willingness to delay implementation if countries made acceptable proposals. He also signed an executive order to put off the tariffs until August 1. Akazawa said Japan had no deadline in mind, including August 1, in reaching a deal with the U.S., and would not sacrifice Japan's agriculture sector for the sake of an early agreement. He also stressed that protecting the automobile sector, a mainstay of Japan's export-reliant economy that is being slapped with 25% tariffs, was among his top priorities. "There's no point striking a deal with the U.S. without an agreement on automobile tariffs," Akazawa said. Uncertainty on tariffs sent the dollar to a two-week high of 146.44 yen on fading expectations of a hawkish quarterly report from the Bank of Japan on July 31, which would have laid the groundwork for an interest rate hike this year. "If the new deadline is set on August 1, the BOJ probably won't be able to say much at the upcoming report in July," said Takeshi Ishida, a strategist at Kansai Mirai Bank. "Market expectations of a near-term rate hike will be rolled back." In a press conference on Tuesday, Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said he had no plans for now to hold talks on exchange rate matters with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. ECONOMIC IMPACT Japan failed to clinch a deal with the U.S. before the July 9 expiration of Trump's temporary pause on his "reciprocal" tariffs, after it focused on eliminating automobile levies. With an upper house election on July 20, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has said Japan will not make "easy concessions" for the sake of an early deal with Washington. Recent media polls have shown Ishiba's ruling coalition may fail to maintain a majority in the upper house, which could complicate trade negotiations, analysts say. U.S. tariffs also add to woes for Japan's economy, which shrank in the first quarter. "There's now a chance Japan could slide into recession," said Yoshiki Shinke, an economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, who expects 25% tariffs to knock 0.7% point off Japan's annual economic growth.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump threatens more countries with tariffs as high as 30%
President Donald Trump sent letters to the leaders of seven more countries Wednesday, adding to the growing list of US trading partners for whom he has threatened new tariff rates. Among the latest recipients were the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Moldova, Brunei, Algeria, Libya and Iraq, with rates going as high as 30% on goods they ship to the United States. The new tariffs go into effect August 1, pending negotiations. Trump said Wednesday afternoon that he planned to announce his tariff level for Brazil within the next day or two. 'Brazil as an example, has been not good to us. Not good at all,' he said during a White House multilateral meeting with leaders of African nations. 'We're going to be releasing a Brazil number, I think, later on, this afternoon or tomorrow morning.' The rates Trump said would be imposed on goods from Sri Lanka, Moldova, Iraq and Libya were lower than those he announced in early April. The rates on goods from the Philippines and Brunei were higher, compared to April levels. Meanwhile, the rate on goods from Algeria was the same (30%) as April levels. Collectively, the US imported $29 billion worth of goods from those seven nations last year, according to US Commerce Department figures. That accounts for less than 1% of the $3.2 trillion of goods the US imported. US stocks were mostly unchanged after Trump's posts. The Dow was up 50 points, or 0.11%. The S&P 500 was up 0.25% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.58%. The US and various trading partners have been negotiating new trade agreements since Trump announced so-called 'reciprocal' tariffs back in April. Yet few deals have come to fruition. During a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Trump said 'a letter means a deal.' But that doesn't appear to be how some countries are perceiving the missives. In the letters, Trump wrote that he takes particular issue with the trade deficits the United States runs with other nations, meaning America buys more goods from there compared to how much American businesses export to those countries. Trump also said the tariffs would be set in response to other policies that he deems are impeding American goods from being sold abroad. Trump has encouraged world leaders to manufacture goods in the United States to avoid tariffs. If they chose to retaliate by slapping higher tariffs on American goods, Trump threatened to tack that onto the rate charged on their country's goods shipped to the United States. Trump has now sent 21 letters on tariff rates to heads of state this week, and more could still come. The 25% tariff Trump threatened to impose on Japan and South Korea would be most likely to impact prices of goods Americans buy, since the two nations are America's fifth- and seventh-top sources of foreign goods. Wednesday at 12:01 a.m. ET was the initial deadline Trump set three months ago for countries to ink trade deals with the US or instantly face higher tariff rates. However, on Monday he extended that deadline to August 1. This is a developing story. It will be updated. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
NHK
08-07-2025
- Business
- NHK
Japan, US tariff negotiators agree on continuing talks
The Japanese government says tariff negotiators from Japan and the United States have agreed to continue vigorous consultations between the two countries. 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.
