Washington and Tokyo are still far from reaching an agreement to reduce the tariffs that Washington intends to impose on all Japanese goods in the interest of protecting its manufacturers. This is reported by the Nikkei business newspaper, citing Economic Recovery Minister Ryosei Akazawa, who has just returned from Washington from the second round of negotiations with US representatives on the tariff issue.
“At this stage, the content of the agreement that the parties can reach is unclear“, the publication quoted the minister as saying. Tokyo will not accept an agreement that would keep higher tariffs on Japanese cars and some other goods, he said.
At a meeting with Akazawa on Saturday, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba stressed that Tokyo is pressing Washington to review its customs policy. He said consultations are underway on all tariff increases, including those on cars, steel and aluminum.
Earlier, Japanese media reported that US officials in early May, during the second round of talks with Akazawa, refused to even discuss the issue of removing the increased tariffs on these goods, which are key to Japanese exports. The third round of consultations is expected to be held in the second half of May, with a view to reaching a final bilateral agreement on tariffs next month.
On April 2, US President Donald Trump announced the introduction of increased tariffs on goods from 185 countries and territories. The universal tariffs of 10% went into effect on April 5, and individual tariffs for individual countries on April 9. An additional tariff rate of 24% was set for Japan. At the same time, the United States set a 90-day delay in the introduction of these tariffs to allow for negotiations. In addition, Washington has already started applying a 25% tariff on imported cars, auto parts and components.