Shigeru Ishiba expressed his hope to visit the United States as soon as possible to negotiate tariffs

On April 7, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said at the Senate Budget Committee that he would visit the United States as soon as possible and hold talks with US President Trump on reciprocal tariffs. He said: “For Japan, this situation is a national disaster. If necessary, I would like to visit the United States as soon as possible.”

Ishiba said that “it is not enough to just say ‘please take care’ during the talks. You must go with a specific package plan.” He also said that he would ask the United States to cancel or reduce tariffs.

This is the conversation between Ishiba in response to questions from Akaike Seiaki of the Liberal Democratic Party and Haneda Jiro of the Constitutional Democratic Party.

Regarding the reciprocal tariffs that the United States also targets Japan, Ishiba criticized it, saying: “This is extremely unacceptable and regrettable,” and reiterated his position that he will do his best to ensure the capital turnover and employment security of Japanese small and medium-sized enterprises.

Ishiba is coordinating arrangements and will have a telephone conversation with Trump as early as this week. He mentioned that Japan’s investment in the United States has created jobs for the United States, and said: “It must be clearly stated that ‘Japan has not done anything unfair’.”

Regarding Japan’s trade policy, he called for “We have always acted fairly and justly, and have made solid efforts. We must continue to uphold this Japanese position in the future.”

Akaike Seiaki advocated, “I hope the prime minister will make up his mind to deal with it even if it means formulating a supplementary budget, and I hope he will consider implementing tax cuts to expand domestic demand.”

At the government and ruling party liaison meeting held at the prime minister’s official residence at noon on the 7th, Ishiba said, “We do not intend to argue head-on (with the United States), but we will explain with the utmost sincerity.”