Washington [US], April 18: The United States and Japan have agreed to more discussions over US tariffs during ministerial talks in Washington with another round of talks scheduled later this month Japan's chief negotiator said on Thursday.
Japan's Economic Revitalisation Minister Akazawa Ryosei who headed his country's delegation held a first round of trade negotiations with his US counterparts in Washington DC on Wednesday (local time).
Talking to reporters later, Akazawa said that the president indicated that talks with Japan on the levies should take top priority, Japanese state media Kyodo reported on Thursday.
US President Donald Trump, who joined the negotiators in a session at the White House, described the meeting as "big progress."
Trump posted on social media that it was "A Great Honor to have just met with the Japanese Delegation on Trade. Big Progress!"
Akazawa held talks with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and also met with Trump at the White House ahead of the ministerial-level negotiations.
The talks were held following Trump's suspension of "reciprocal" tariffs for 90 days.
The Japanese minister said he shared Ishiba's message during the meeting that Tokyo wants to seal a deal as soon as possible that would help further strengthen the Japanese and U.S. economies.
Akazawa added that Tokyo and Washington agreed to hammer out a deal that the leaders of both countries can announce.
Meanwhile, in Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told reporters he believes Japan can build on the latest talks in Washington for the next round. "I'm naturally thinking about visiting the United States for talks with President Trump (on the tariff issue) at the most appropriate time," he said, according to a report in Kyodo.
Ishiba had visited the US from February 6 to 8, and held the first in-person summit meeting with Trump in Washington DC. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Trump agreed earlier this month that the countries would continue talks on the US-imposed import levies at the ministerial level.
Ishiba and Trump had agreed earlier this month that the countries would continue talks on the US-imposed import levies at the ministerial level.
Akazawa said he "strongly" urged the United States to reconsider the tariffs it has imposed on automobiles, steel and aluminium as well as its baseline 10 per cent levy during the talks with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, according to Kyodo News agency.
Earlier in the day, the president indicated that the decades-old bilateral security treaty could be discussed during the talks with Japan. A Japanese government source said Trump mentioned a potential increase in Japan's defence budget during Wednesday's talks.
Trump has urged Japan to pay more to host U.S. forces, describing the post-World War II arrangement agreed in 1960 as "so one-sided."
The Trump administration has included Japan in a list of trade partners covered by his sweeping tariff regime, revealed earlier this month, urging Tokyo to open the Japanese market further by easing nontariff barriers such as auto safety regulations, subsidies and the systems for importing and distributing rice. Trump set the reciprocal tariff on Japanese imports at 24 per cent.
Trump has also imposed an additional 25 per cent tariff on automobiles produced outside the United States and 25 percent levies on all imported steel and aluminum.
Japan now faces a 27.5 percent total tariff on passenger vehicles, dealing a blow to a key industry that accounted for nearly 30 percent of the country's total exports to the United States by value last year.
Source: Times of Oman