Duties, Trump praises 'great progress' with Japan
The Japanese delegation, which did not expect the president to attend the meeting, hoped for a more technical discussion
1' min read
1' min read
On his social Truth, Donald Trump called the meeting with the Japanese trade delegation "a great honour" and spoke of "great progress". The meeting, initially conceived by Tokyo as a fact-finding phase, instead saw the direct involvement of the US president, to the surprise of the Japanese, who hoped for a more technical and contained confrontation. Japan, one of the US's main security allies and its fourth largest trading partner, has been hit by 24% taxes on exports to Washington and is nowone of the first countries to enter into formal negotiations with the White House.
Leading the Japanese delegation was Ryosei Akazawa, a close associate of PM Shigeru Ishiba and a relatively new figure on the international scene. The talks were held in the presence, on the US side, of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. According to Akazawa, Trump called reaching an understanding 'a top priority', but avoided addressing thorny issues such as exchange rates, which Washington says are often manipulated by Tokyo to favour exports.
The background to the meeting was the latest macroeconomic data. Japan posted a trade deficit in the March-April fiscal period, but racked up a surplus with the United States, according to the Ministry of Finance. The country's overall trade deficit reached 5.2 trillion yen ($37 billion) for the fiscal year ending March, marking the fourth consecutive year of deficit, according to provisional statistics. The surplus with the US rose to 9 trillion yen ($63 billion).
