Japan’s top government spokesman yesterday denied that Tokyo made too many concessions in trade talks with the US, saying the fact that the two countries were able to reach a broad agreement was “very valuable.”
The US and Japan on Sunday agreed in principle to core elements of a trade deal that US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said they hoped to sign in New York next month.
The agreement, if finalized, would cool a trade dispute between the two allies just as a trade war between the US and China escalates, but several Japanese commentators say Tokyo gave up too much.
Photo: Reuters
At a news conference in Tokyo, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga was asked if the US had dropped its threat to impose additional tariffs on Japanese automobiles.
“Negotiations are still under way, so I’d like to refrain from commenting,” Suga told reporters.
“But I believe that won’t be the case,” he added, because the two countries’ leaders had confirmed, including at a summit in September last year, that Washington would not impose higher tariffs on auto and auto parts while trade talks were under way.
“Japan and the US have negotiated based on the joint statement last September, and related ministers agreed based on that, so it was very valuable,” Suga said.
At the G7 summit in France, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the deal, which covered agriculture, industrial tariffs and digital trade, would open up Japanese markets to US goods and lead to a substantial reduction in tariffs, such as on beef.
Japan imports about US$14 billion of US agricultural products, Lighthizer said, adding that the agreement would open up markets to more than US$7 billion of such products.
He said beef, pork, wheat, dairy products, wine and ethanol would benefit.
The Nikkei Shimbun on Saturday reported that Japan has agreed to cut its tariffs on US beef and pork to the levels applied to members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement.
Trump pulled the US out of the TPP, which had been championed by his predecessor, Barack Obama.
Trump on Sunday said that Japan had agreed to buy excess US corn that is burdening farmers as a result of the tariff dispute between Washington and Beijing.
Abe referred to a potential purchase of the corn and said it would be handled by the private sector.
“It’s a very big transaction, and we’ve agreed in principle. It’s billions and billions of dollars. Tremendous for the farmers,” Trump told reporters about the deal during a joint announcement with Abe at the G7 meeting in France.
Abe said more work remained, but he expressed optimism that it would be finished by the time of the UN General Assembly next month.
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