Trump: Japan and the United States have made significant progress in tariff negotiations

Japanese Minister of Economics and Finance Ryomasa Akasawa, who is visiting the U.S. capital Washington, ended his first tariff negotiation meeting with the United States on the afternoon of the 16th local time (morning of the 17th Beijing time). He told the media that he had asked the United States to comprehensively review the tariff issues including reciprocal tariffs, automobiles, and steel and aluminum products.

Ryomasa Akasawa said that the two sides have “reached a consensus and will aim to reach an agreement as soon as possible.” The two sides plan to negotiate again this month. He also revealed that the U.S. side clearly stated that “it hopes to reach an agreement within 90 days.”

Ryomasa Akasawa held a meeting with U.S. President Trump at the White House for about 50 minutes. U.S. Treasury Secretary Benson, Commerce Secretary Lutnick, and U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Representative Greer also attended the meeting. Afterwards, the Japanese and U.S. ministers held consultations for about 75 minutes.

Ryomasa Akasawa said: “I conveyed Prime Minister (Shigeru Ishiba)’s idea to (Trump) – I hope to reach a comprehensive agreement as soon as possible that will make both the Japanese and American economies stronger and achieve a win-win situation.” Trump told him, “Negotiations with Japan are the top priority.”

In the ministerial consultations, the Japanese side demanded the reduction or elimination of tariffs, while the US side was believed to have made security-related requests. Ryomasa Akasawa made it clear to the media that “there was no communication” on the exchange rate issue. But when asked whether there were any security requests, he did not give a positive response.

On the morning of the 16th, Trump posted on his personal social media: “Japan came to negotiate on tariffs, military support costs, and “trade fairness.” This statement also echoed his previous dissatisfaction with Japan’s share of the burden of US troops stationed in Japan.

On the evening of the 16th, the White House posted a photo of Ryomasa Akasawa and Trump smiling in the presidential office on X (formerly Twitter). The accompanying text also quoted Trump’s words on social media: “Major progress has been made.”

Presidential spokesman Levitt revealed on the evening of the 16th on the US FOX TV program that Bessant said after the Japan-US negotiations ended that “the talks went smoothly and were fruitful.”

Levitt also said that the reason Trump met with Akazawa Ryomasa was that “the president wanted to personally intervene in individual negotiations,” and emphasized: “Countries around the world know that they need to trade with the United States, and China is no exception.”

The cause of this tariff negotiation is that the US government unilaterally raised tariff rates on various countries. Many countries, including Japan, have requested to negotiate with the US to avoid being affected by high tariffs.

The US government launched reciprocal tariffs on the 9th, Japan time, and imposed a 24% tariff on Japan. About half a day later, Trump announced a temporary suspension of the additional tariffs for 90 days.

At present, Japan is facing a situation where, in addition to the 10% reciprocal tariff, it also needs to bear an additional 25% tariff on specific items such as automobiles, steel and aluminum products.