But the two sides may have talked about further boosting and facilitating imports of automobiles and agricultural products from the United States to Japan, given that US President Donald Trump has been pressing for a cut in the US trade deficit with the Asian nation.
On the other hand, the topics of foreign exchange markets and national security were not discussed at Thursday’s talks, according to Akazawa.
Akazawa said he told the US side that the Trump administration’s tariff measures are extremely regrettable and urged Washington to reconsider its tariff policy, including the additional tariffs imposed on automobiles.
In Tokyo on Friday Japan time, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told reporters, “As we’re negotiating with our national interest at stake, we’re both making a maximum effort in order to seek out common ground.” While constructive, in-depth discussions were held, “we’re in no situation where we can find common ground as of this moment,” Ishiba said.
He warned against damaging national interests by rushing to conclude the negotiations, stressing that there is no change in Tokyo’s position of seeking the removal of additional US tariffs on imports from Japan.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
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