Japan’s industry minister Ryosei Akazawa. (Mainichi)
TOKYO (Kyodo) — Japanese economy minister Ryosei Akazawa is arranging a visit to the United States this week to discuss with his U.S. counterpart projects under Tokyo’s $550 billion investment commitment and U.S. Donald Trump’s new tariff measure, a government source said Wednesday.
In the trip eyed from Thursday, Akazawa hopes to make progress on the investment pledge Japan has made in exchange for a reduction in tariffs on Japanese cars and other goods, as he lays the groundwork for a summit between Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Trump planned for March 19.
In the talks with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Akazawa, minister of economy, trade and industry, also wants to confirm Japan’s treatment under the new across-the-board 10 percent tariffs Trump has imposed to replace the so-called reciprocal tariffs the U.S. Supreme Court judged unconstitutional last month, the source said.
The new tariffs came shortly after the two governments announced the first tranche of investments worth a total of about $36 billion in synthetic diamond production, natural gas power generation and construction of a crude oil export terminal.
For the second round of projects, Japan is looking to invest in the construction of next-generation nuclear reactors in the United States, a source close to the matter has said.
Tokyo had made the commitments, comprising investments, loans and loan guarantees from Japanese government-backed financial institutions, in return for the reduction of country-specific, reciprocal tariffs on goods from the Asian country to 15 percent, with levies on auto imports also set at the same rate.
As part of the deal, Japan was given “no-stacking” special treatment, under which imports from the country with preexisting tariffs of 15 percent or higher were not facing any additional levy, while duties on other items were at 15 percent.
But Trump’s new, across-the-board 10 percent surcharge imposed under a different legal framework means additional tariff burdens on some Japanese goods.
Akazawa, who worked to reach the trade deal as Japan’s top tariffs negotiator, wants to see a reduction in the added tariffs under Trump’s new measure, the source said.
AloJapan.com