FOCUS: Trump wants Japan's clout, but more needed before tariff deal

By Takuya Karube, KYODO NEWS - 4 hours ago - 03:05 | All, World
As widely expected, U.S. President Donald Trump held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Canada, but their conversation turned out to be rather brief, indicating there is much more work to do before they can strike a deal on tariffs.
Trump and Ishiba sat down together on Monday for about half an hour on the sidelines of a Group of Seven summit, producing a mere confirmation that trade negotiations will continue following six rounds of ministerial discussions since mid-April.
In an apparent reflection of the not-so-easy situation with Japan, when asked by a reporter how his second in-person meeting with Ishiba went, Trump responded with only one word: "Well."
Later, on the way back to Washington on Air Force One, Trump said it was a "great conversation" and "I thought he was terrific, actually," referring to Ishiba. But he added that the Japanese are "tough."
With the imposition of hefty tariffs on imports, Trump has pledged to slash U.S. trade deficits and rejuvenate domestic manufacturing.
The United States imports far more than it exports, with Trump strongly believing its negative trade balance is primarily the result of the "unfair" trade practices of other countries.
In the case of Japan, Trump and senior officials of his administration have often complained that almost no American cars are sold in the country, blaming the situation on perceived market barriers such as Tokyo's safety and environmental regulations.
They have pointed to the low sales volume in Japan as a good example of American manufacturers not being on equal footing with their rivals.
Unlike Japan, which maintains a zero-tariff policy on imported passenger vehicles, the Trump administration raised the tariff rate on such vehicles by 25 percent to 27.5 percent in early April.
Among the Trump administration's barrage of higher tariffs, the sharp hike is Japan's biggest headache as the automotive industry is a powerful driver of its economy.
"Automobiles are truly a major national interest," Ishiba told reporters, suggesting that Trump's resistance to scrapping or substantially lowering the auto tariff remains a key impediment in negotiations. "We will do everything in our effort to protect this kind of national interest."
William Chou, deputy director of the Hudson Institute's Japan Chair, said that in light of recent signals from Tokyo and Washington, he sees neither side as being in a rush to make a deal.
Chou said that is partly due to their aim of gaining "negotiation leverage."
Compared with other major U.S. trading partners, Japan has far more strength in bargaining, he said, noting that it has been the largest investor in the United States in recent years, employing more than 1 million workers, and it also has an incomparable capacity to cooperate on the economic security front.
When Ishiba visited Washington in February, he pledged to Trump that Japan's direct investment, totaling about $800 billion, would be further increased to $1 trillion.
Trump has framed higher tariffs as a means to protect national security, using Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act as a legal basis. He regards sectors such as automobiles, steel, semiconductors, critical minerals, energy and shipbuilding as top priorities.
"While other American allies may have been able to collaborate with Washington in a few of these sectors, only Japan has the technical know-how, the manufacturing capacity, the financial resources and the shared heightened concerns over economic coercion (from China) to work with the U.S. in all of these sectors," he said.
Trump has given Japan and other key trading partners a 90-day reprieve from what he calls country-specific "reciprocal" tariffs.
Last week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the point man for the tariff negotiations, said Washington could extend the pause, set to expire in early July, if its trading partners continue to negotiate "in good faith."
Wendy Cutler, a former acting deputy U.S. trade representative, said Japanese negotiators have the advantage as the administration is "under heavy pressure to produce trade deals during the 90-day truce period."
Cutler said that although reducing Japan's trade surplus is the number one priority for the administration, the scope of negotiations is broad, as objectives ranging from improving market access to boosting cooperation in critical minerals, energy and other sectors deemed strategic to national security are also in play.
Looking ahead, Cutler, who is now vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute, and Chou of the Washington-based think tank both believe there could be bumps in bilateral relations even if the two countries manage to reach some agreement in the coming weeks.
They suggested that the areas of potential economic security cooperation could be a double-edged sword as the Trump administration may unleash more tariffs in sectors important to Japan, including semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and parts for commercial aircraft, all of which are currently subject to its investigation under Section 232.
Chou said that "another hiccup may be the lack of Japanese movement" on a liquid natural gas project in Alaska, a pillar of Trump's energy agenda.
"If there remains inaction (either by the Japanese private sector or the government), there will likely be continued frustration in the White House that may spill over," he said.
Related coverage:
PM Ishiba says Japan Inc. suffering under Trump tariffs
Trump says he sees chance of trade deal with "tough" Japan
G7 leaders agree to expand critical minerals cooperation

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Nikkei Asia

27 minutes ago

• Nikkei Asia

Sri Lanka car market tilts toward EVs with BYD, other Chinese leading

The latest BYD models on display in a Colombo showroom. (Photo by Munza Mushtaq) MUNZA MUSHTAQ COLOMBO -- For decades, Sri Lanka's roads told a familiar story of sturdy imported Japanese sedans and Indian-built hatchbacks that included marques like Toyota, Nissan and Suzuki. But a quiet revolution is now underway, with electric vehicles from BYD and other Chinese brands ascendant. The island nation's automobile industry mostly supplies imported cars. This country of 23 million has only a few small assembly and manufacturing plants. The market has been dormant since the government imposed a unilateral vehicle import ban in 2020 to preserve scarce foreign reserves during the country's worst economic crisis in decades.

Japan Today

31 minutes ago

• Japan Today

Iran and Israel trade air and missile strikes

A satellite view shows an overview of Fordow underground complex, after the U.S. struck the underground nuclear facility, near Qom, Iran June 22, 2025. MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES/Handout via REUTERS By Parisa Hafezi, Phil Stewart and Maayan Lubell Iran and Israel traded air and missile strikes as the world braced on Monday for Tehran's response to the U.S. attack on its nuclear sites and U.S. President Donald Trump raised the idea of regime change in the Islamic republic. Iran vowed to defend itself on Sunday, a day after the U.S. joined Israel in the biggest Western military action against the country since its 1979 Islamic Revolution, despite calls for restraint and a return to diplomacy from around the world. Commercial satellite imagery indicated the U.S. attack on Saturday on Iran's subterranean Fordow nuclear plant severely damaged or destroyed the deeply buried site and the uranium-enriching centrifuges it housed, but the status of the site remained unconfirmed, experts said. In his latest social media comments on the U.S. strikes, Trump said "Monumental Damage was done to all Nuclear sites in Iran." "The biggest damage took place far below ground level. Bullseye!!!" he wrote on his Truth Social platform. Trump earlier called on Iran to forgo any retaliation and said the government "must now make peace" or "future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier." The U.S. launched 75 precision-guided munitions including bunker-buster bombs and more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles against three Iranian nuclear sites, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, told reporters. The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said no increases in off-site radiation levels had been reported after the U.S. strikes. Rafael Grossi, the agency's director general, told CNN that it was not yet possible to assess the damage done underground. A senior Iranian source told Reuters that most of the highly enriched uranium at Fordow had been moved elsewhere before the attack. Reuters could not immediately corroborate the claim. Tehran, which denies its nuclear program is for anything other than peaceful purposes, sent a volley of missiles at Israel in the aftermath of the U.S. attack, wounding scores of people and destroying buildings in Tel Aviv. But it had not acted on its main threats of retaliation, to target U.S. bases or choke off oil shipments that pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Attempting to strangle Gulf oil supply by closing the strait could send global oil prices skyrocketing, derail the world economy and invite conflict with the U.S. Navy's massive Fifth Fleet based in the Gulf. Oil prices jumped on Monday to their highest since January. Brent crude futures LCOc1 rose $1.88 or 2.44% at $78.89 a barrel as of 1122 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 advanced $1.87 or 2.53% at $75.71. Iran's parliament has approved a move to close the strait, which Iran shares with Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Iran's Press TV said any such move would require approval from the Supreme National Security Council, a body led by an appointee of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Caine said the U.S. military had increased protection of troops in the region, including in Iraq and Syria. The U.S. State Department issued a security alert for all U.S. citizens abroad, calling on them to "exercise increased caution." U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday called on China to encourage Iran to not shut down the strait, telling Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo" show it would be a "terrible mistake." "It's economic suicide for them if they do it. And we retain options to deal with that, but other countries should be looking at that as well. It would hurt other countries' economies a lot worse than ours," he said. The Israeli military reported a missile launch from Iran in the early hours of Monday morning, saying it was intercepted by Israeli defenses. Air raid sirens blared in Tel Aviv and other parts of central Israel. Iran has repeatedly targeted the Greater Tel Aviv - a metropolitan area of around 4 million people - the business and economic hub of Israel where there are also critical military assets. Iranian news agencies reported air defenses were activated in central Tehran districts to counter "enemy targets", and that Israeli air strikes hit Parchin, the location of a military complex southeast of the capital. REGIME CHANGE In a post to the Truth Social platform on Sunday, Trump raised the idea of regime change in Iran. "It's not politically correct to use the term, 'Regime Change,' but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!" he wrote. Trump's post came after officials in his administration, including U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, stressed they were not working to overthrow Iran's government. Israeli officials, who began the hostilities with a surprise attack on Iran on June 13, have increasingly spoken of their ambition to topple the hardline Shi'ite Muslim clerical establishment. As Tehran weighed its options, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi is expected to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday. The Kremlin has a strategic partnership with Iran, but also close links with Israel. Speaking in Istanbul on Sunday, Araqchi said his country would consider all possible responses and there would be no return to diplomacy until it had retaliated. Russia's foreign ministry condemned the U.S. attacks which it said had undermined the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and warned of the conflict spreading in the Middle East. The U.N. Security Council met on Sunday to discuss the U.S. strikes as Russia, China and Pakistan proposed the 15-member body adopt a resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the Middle East. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council the U.S. bombings in Iran marked a perilous turn in the region and urged a return to negotiations over Iran's nuclear program. Commercial airlines were weighing how long to suspend Middle East flights after the U.S. struck Iran. The Middle East route has become more important for flights between Europe and Asia but flight tracking website FlightRadar24 showed empty space on Sunday over Iran, Iraq, Syria and Israel. © Thomson Reuters 2025.

The Mainichi

an hour ago

• The Mainichi

Okinawa marks 80th anniversary of end of WWII ground battle

NAHA Japan (Kyodo) -- Okinawa on Monday observed the 80th anniversary of the end of a fierce World War II ground battle between Japan and the United States that took the lives of over 200,000 military personnel and residents. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki attended a service at the Peace Memorial Park in Itoman, where the final stage of the battle was fought. Another 342 names were added to the list of war dead inscribed on monuments, bringing the total to 242,567 people. The Battle of Okinawa from March through June 1945 in the Japanese southern island prefecture took a heavy toll on the local population, with one in four residents killed. After Japan's defeat, Okinawa was under U.S. administration until 1972 and it continues to host the bulk of U.S. forces in Japan. Anti-base sentiment runs deep due to noise, pollution and crimes committed by American service members, with a series of alleged sexual assault cases revealed recently fueling anger among local residents. Japan has been strengthening its defense capabilities in the prefecture in recent years as tensions grow with China over Taiwan and the nearby Senkaku Islands, a group of uninhabited islets controlled by Tokyo and claimed by Beijing, which calls them Diaoyu. The move has raised concern among Okinawans that their islands could again become the front line of conflict.