Trump calls Japan 'tough' trade negotiator and complains EU not being fair

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Japan was being "tough" in trade talks and the European Union had not yet offered what he considered a fair deal, as a team led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stayed at the Group of Seven meeting in Canada to keep working on trade issues after Trump's abrupt early departure.
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that the EU would need to offer Washington "a good deal" or face higher tariffs.
Trump spoke after leaving the Group of Seven summit early to focus on the Middle East, disappointing trading partners who had hoped to make progress on thorny trade talks. He told reporters Bessent was staying on in Kananaskis, Alberta, to keep talking with counterparts on trade.
White House officials said U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett also remained in Canada and would be meeting their counterparts. They said Trump met informally with all G7 members but had not seen the leaders of India, Australia or Mexico, who were also slated to meet him in Canada this week.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum tweeted later in the day that she had a "very good" phone call with Trump on Tuesday, and they agreed to work together to reach a deal on "diverse topics." The White House later confirmed the call.
"We're talking, but I don't feel that they're offering a fair deal yet," Trump told reporters, referring to the European Union. "They're either going to make a good deal or they'll just pay whatever we say they have to pay."
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters on the sidelines of the G7 summit that the objective was still to reach a deal before higher reciprocal tariffs go into effect on July 9 after a 90-day pause.
"It's complex, but we are advancing, that is good, and I push hard to pick up more speed, so we are mixed in the negotiations, and we will see what the end brings," she said.
Greta Peisch, a trade lawyer at Wiley Rein in Washington, said Trump's departure was disappointing for trading partners since he was leading trade policy, and it was sometimes unclear what tradeoffs he was willing to make.
"If they don't have a clear view of what that is ... that can obviously slow things down and make it more difficult to conclude the negotiations," she said.
Trump also said there was a chance of a trade deal between Washington and Japan.
"They're tough, the Japanese are tough, but ultimately you have to understand we're just going to send a letter saying, 'This is what you're going to pay, otherwise you don't have to do business with us.' But there's a chance," he said.
Trump also said pharmaceutical tariffs were coming very soon, repeating a threat he has made repeatedly to impose import taxes on medical goods in a bid to force drug makers to rebase production to the U.S.
"We're going to be doing pharmaceuticals very soon. That's going to bring all the companies back into America," he said, referring to an ongoing Commerce Department investigation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. "It's going to bring most of them back into, at least partially back in."
Matthew Goodman, a former senior U.S. official and fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said it was always a "stretch goal" for Trump to reach any deals at the G7 summit beyond finalizing the terms of a limited deal with Britain.
The U.S.-U.K. deal, announced by Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Canada, reaffirmed quotas and tariff rates on British automobiles and eliminated tariffs on the U.K. aerospace sector, but the issue of steel and aluminum remained unresolved.
Over a dozen other major U.S. trading partners are still in talks to work out agreements with Trump before the three-month hiatus on his sweeping "Liberation Day" tariffs expires in about three weeks.
"I think July 9 is the real deadline. That's when the 90-day pause ends, and I suspect that Trump and his team are trying to use that as maximum pressure to get countries to give more ground," Goodman said.
Trump has signaled he could extend the deadline for countries that engaged in negotiations, but repeated his threat to send letters to other countries that simply spell out the U.S. tariffs they would be facing.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Japan Times

30 minutes ago

• Japan Times

Japan scraps ‘two-plus-two' meeting with U.S. over defense spending demand, report says

Japan has canceled a high-level meeting with the U.S. set for July following a demand that Tokyo spend even more on defense, according to a media report. Tokyo abruptly scrapped annual 'two-plus-two' security talks involving the allies' top diplomats and defense chiefs less than two weeks before the meeting after the U.S. asked Japan to hike its defense budget to 3.5% of gross domestic product, the Financial Times reported Friday, citing unidentified sources. Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya had been scheduled to meet U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in Washington on July 1 for the talks. Asked about the report at a news conference Friday, U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the U.S. had 'no comment on that at this point.' The Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The report said that the U.S. had initially asked Japan to spend 3% of GDP on defense, though Pentagon officials told The Japan Times earlier that it had set a 'global standard' for Tokyo and other U.S. allies to spend 5% of GDP on defense, in the first official confirmation that Washington is asking Tokyo to pump up its defense budget even further. The reason for the discrepancy was not immediately clear, though the Pentagon has been gripped by upheaval, including high-level dismissals and scandals in recent months under Hegseth. The Financial Times said the new, higher demand was made in recent weeks by Elbridge Colby, the Defense Department's No. 3 official, sparking anger in Tokyo. Colby said during his confirmation hearing in March that Japan 'should be spending at least 3% of GDP on defense as soon as possible,' citing the growing military threat from China and North Korea. Ostensibly pacifist Japan has in recent years undertaken a dramatic transformation of its security policy, including a five-year plan to ramp up defense spending to 2% of GDP by 2027. But pouring even more cash into defense coffers would come with significant political costs as the government focuses on domestic economic priorities and amid growing uncertainty over how to secure funds. Japan is currently getting far less bang for its buck as inflation and the yen's diminishing value erode its plans for the country's largest military buildup since World War II. The Financial Times report, citing a senior Japanese official, said the decision to cancel the meeting was also related to the July 20 Upper House election in which the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is expected to lose seats. In a statement given to The Japan Times on Friday, Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell pointed to a majority of NATO nations that have signed on to U.S. requests to boost defense spending to the 5% level, saying that 'European allies are now setting the global standard for our alliances, especially in Asia, which is 5% of GDP spending on defense.' Asked whether Parnell's remarks apply specifically to Japan, a U.S. defense official said it 'is inclusive for all of our allies across the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan.' Nakatani said in April that defense spending was within striking distance of the 2% target, at 1.8% of GDP. A Defense Ministry panel of experts, meanwhile, is reportedly set to recommend that the government consider hiking defense spending beyond 2%, and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has said that future budgets "may top 2%, if needed,' depending on the security environment. Ishiba and senior Japanese officials, however, have said that Japan will not be told how much to spend, reiterating that what is most important is the substance of strengthened defense capabilities — not arbitrary figures. The issue of defense spending among U.S. allies and partners will be at the top of the agenda at next week's NATO leaders' summit in The Hague, which Ishiba is also set to attend. Tensions over security issues and trade have grown since Trump took office, with the U.S. president railing against his county's alliance with Japan, calling the partnership — which turns 65 this year — unfair and 'one-sided,' while threatening Tokyo and other allies and partners with onerous tariffs on key sectors such as automobiles and steel.

NHK

an hour ago

• NHK

Iran, Europe talks wrap up in Geneva

The Iranian foreign minister met with top European diplomats in Geneva on Friday in a bid to ease the conflict between Iran and Israel. After the meeting, the Europeans issued a statement saying they support continuing the discussions, and welcomed US efforts to seek a "negotiated solution." Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with his counterparts from Britain, France and Germany, as well as EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, at a hotel in the city. After the talks, Kallas said, "The regional escalation benefits no one and that's why we need to keep the discussions with Tehran open." She also said they agreed to discuss nuclear and broader issues. The Iranian foreign minister said, "Iran is ready to consider diplomacy once again and once aggression is stopped." He also stressed that he made clear that "Iran's defense capabilities are not negotiable." This comes after the White House said Thursday that US President Donald Trump has set a two-week timeline to decide on whether the US will join the conflict. Trump was dismissive about the Geneva talks. Speaking to reporters after arriving in New Jersey, he said, "Europe is not going to be able to help." He also denied that the US will ask Israel to stop the attacks. At the Security Council meeting in New York, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the confrontation is "racing" toward a crisis, and "we are on course to potential chaos." He said: "Moments when the direction taken will shape not only the fate of nations, but potentially our collective future. This is such a moment." The UN leader called on all the parties to "give peace a chance."

Japan Times

an hour ago

• Japan Times

U.S. judge orders release of pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil

A U.S. judge ordered on Friday that Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil be released immediately from immigration custody, a major victory for rights groups that challenged what they called the Trump administration's unlawful targeting of a pro-Palestinian activist. Khalil, a prominent figure in pro-Palestinian protests against Israel's war on Gaza, was arrested by immigration agents in the lobby of his university residence in Manhattan on March 8. President Donald Trump, a Republican, has called the protests antisemitic and vowed to deport foreign students who took part. Khalil became the first target of this policy. After hearing oral arguments from lawyers for Khalil and for the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz of Newark, New Jersey, ordered DHS to release him from custody at a jail for immigrants in rural Louisiana by as soon as 6:30 p.m. Friday. Farbiarz said the government had made no attempt to rebut evidence provided by Khalil's lawyers that he was not a flight risk nor a danger to the public. "There is at least something to the underlying claim that there is an effort to use the immigration charge here to punish the petitioner (Khalil)," Farbiarz said as he ruled from the bench, adding that punishing someone over a civil immigration matter was unconstitutional. Khalil was the latest in a string of foreign pro-Palestinian students arrested in the U.S. starting in March who have subsequently been released by a judge. They include Mohsen Mahdawi and Rumeysya Ozturk. Khalil, a legal permanent resident of the U.S., says he is being punished for his political speech in violation of the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment. Khalil condemned antisemitism and racism in interviews with CNN and other news outlets last year. The Syrian-born activist plans to return to New York to be with his wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, and their infant son who was born during Khalil's 104 days in detention. "This ruling does not begin to address the injustices the Trump administration has brought upon our family, and so many others," Abdalla said in a statement. "Today we are celebrating Mahmoud coming back to New York to be reunited with our little family and the community that has supported us since the day he was unjustly taken for speaking out for Palestinian freedom." The White House condemned the decision to release Khalil, saying he should be deported for "conduct detrimental to American foreign policy interests" and fraudulently obtaining a student visa. "There is no basis for a local federal judge in New Jersey — who lacks jurisdiction — to order Khalil's release from a detention facility in Louisiana," White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement. "We expect to be vindicated on appeal." Even though a federal judge ordered Khalil be freed, the immigration proceedings against him continue. The Louisiana immigration judge in his case on Friday denied his asylum request, ruled he could be deported based on the government's allegations of immigration fraud, and denied a bail hearing. Farbiarz's decision rendered the bail request moot. Like others facing deportation, Khalil has avenues to appeal within the immigration system. Farbiarz is also considering Khalil's challenge of his deportation on constitutional grounds, and has blocked officials from deporting Khalil while that challenge plays out. Earlier this month, Farbiarz ruled the government was violating Khalil's free speech rights by detaining him under a little-used law granting the U.S. secretary of state power to seek deportation of noncitizens whose presence in the country was deemed adverse to U.S. foreign policy interests. On June 13, the judge declined to order Khalil's release from a detention center in Jena, Louisiana, after Trump's administration said Khalil was being held on a separate charge that he withheld information from his application for lawful permanent residency. Khalil's lawyers deny that allegation and say people are rarely detained on such charges. On June 16, they urged Farbiarz to grant a separate request from their client to be released on bail or be transferred to immigration detention in New Jersey to be closer to his family in New York. At Friday's hearing, Farbiarz said it was "highly unusual" for the government to jail an immigrant accused of omissions in his application for U.S. permanent residency. Khalil, 30, became a U.S. permanent resident last year, and his wife and newborn son are U.S. citizens. Trump administration lawyers wrote in a Tuesday filing that Khalil's request for release should be addressed to the judge overseeing his immigration case, an administrative process over whether he can be deported, rather than to Farbiarz, who is considering whether Khalil's March 8 arrest and subsequent detention were constitutional.