Concluded the second round of negotiations in Washington
If the United States want to deal with Japan on trade, they must rethink all the duties in force as a precondition, said Tokyo’s correspondent for customs rates, returning from a second round of negotiations to Washington.
Japan, the key ally of the United States and its main investor, is subject to the same basic duties of 10% to most countries, as well as higher duties on cars, steel and aluminum, even after President Donald Trump in early April had announced and then suspended for 90 days duties on the Japanese export, as of other countries, at 24%.
The correspondent Ryosei Akazawa, on his return to Tokyo, told journalists that the two sides “made progress” towards an agreement, but he stressed that Tokyo insists that all the rates are magazines. “We told them that the entire series of duties – including those on cars, spare parts, steel and aluminum, as well as mutual taxes – are deplorable and we have forcefully insisted on being reviewed,” said Akazawa. “If this request is not implemented in a final package, we will never be able to reach an agreement,” he added.
The cars represented about 28% of Japanese exports to the US in 2024. This morning, the prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, also reiterated to journalists that “Japan and the United States remain distant and still cannot find common ground”. Also today, the Trump administration has imposed a new 25% tax on imports of car spare parts, including engines and transmissions: decision judged “deplorable” by Ishiba.
