The government is moving to simplify inspection procedures for U.S. cars shipped to Japan for sale to head off Trump administration criticism that Japan impedes access to its automotive market through nontariff barriers.
The move follows President Donald Trump’s decision to slap Japan with a 25-percent tariff on auto imports from April 3 and a base 10-percent tariff on almost all other items from April 5.
Additional reciprocal tariffs have been suspended for 90 days.
The issue of nontariff barriers was raised once again during talks in Washington this week with Ryosei Akazawa, the minister of economic revitalization who is handling negotiations for exemptions to the various tariffs announced by the Trump administration on behalf of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
According to several government sources, one issue under consideration is a simplified safety inspection process for U.S. cars once they enter Japan.
The United States has long complained about the inspections as the U.S. vehicles have already passed stringent checks concerning auto emissions, among other things, in the United States.
One option being considered by government officials is the current framework in place for European auto companies. Japan and Europe operate a simplified process by having a common set of inspection items.
Officials are now mulling whether such a system, while not on the same scale as that in place for Europe, could be established for U.S. vehicles.
The Trump administration has also cited other sectors where nontariff barriers block U.S. products from entering the Japanese market, including farm produce such as rice and beef.
In its March report, the U.S. trade representative’s office ticked off a long list of farm products, such as potatoes, fruits and seafood, as being protected in Japan by nontariff barriers.
During his talks with Akazawa, Trump also raised an old chestnut: the amount Japan spends on defense. Trump insists it is not nearly enough and that Japan must shoulder a greater burden.
The matter prompted Defense Minister Gen Nakatani to state at his April 18 news conference that national security issues are separate from tariffs.
Moreover, government sources said officials in Tokyo have not heard anything from their counterparts in the U.S. State and Defense departments, indicating that Trump has not given direct instructions to look into the matter.
But given his unorthodox style of suddenly focusing on a new issue, Trump could at any time order bureaucratic underlings to raise the funding of U.S. military bases in Japan during negotiations on tariffs.
After Akazawa returned to Japan and reported back to Ishiba, the latter told reporters he had instructed the relevant ministers to consider steps that can be taken to alleviate the nontariff barriers at a faster pace.
The next round of negotiations between Japan and the United States is set for later this month.
(This article was compiled from reports by Kohei Morioka, Doni Tani, Kenta Nakamura, Narumi Ota, Kanako Tanaka, Yoshikatsu Nakajima and Mizuki Sato.)
AloJapan.com