Japanese and US officials held top-level trade talks in Tokyo yesterday after Washington said it was ready to discuss reducing steel and aluminum tariffs imposed under former US president Donald Trump.
US Trade Representative Katherine Tai (戴琪) and US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo have made the Japanese capital the first stop on their separate trips to several countries in Asia.
Raimondo held talks with Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Koichi Hagiuda, with the pair stressing the importance of cooperation between the world’s top and third-largest economies.
Photo: Reuters
“The relationship between the United States and Japan is critically important ... for shared economic values, and that’s why this is my first stop in the region,” Raimondo said.
She called for cooperation in a range of fields, including semiconductors and supply chains, as chip shortages and production issues hamper the developed world’s pandemic economic recovery.
Raimondo did not refer to discussions about steel and aluminum tariffs, but a senior official from the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry confirmed that both sides “agreed to start talks.”
Washington on Friday said it was ready to discuss reducing the tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum that were imposed on several economies, including the EU and Japan, by the Trump administration in 2018.
“[The] details will come later,” senior trade official Hiroyuki Hatada said. “If tariffs are lifted, that will be a perfect solution for Japan.”
The deal made with the EU does not go that far, instead allowing limited quantities of European steel and aluminum products to be imported by the US without tariffs.
Japan and the US are among the world’s top steel producers, ranked behind China, the EU and India, World Steel Association data showed.
In a joint statement, Raimondo and Hagiuda said they had agreed to establish a commercial and industrial partnership to work on areas including supply chains for semiconductors, 5G telecommunications and other key industries.
They also pledged to address “market-distorting measures to counter unfair trade practices,” likely in reference to China, which Washington has accused of threatening the US steel and aluminum industries.
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