Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Friday that he had a phone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump, during which they agreed to engage in “productive” discussions in the upcoming round of tariff negotiations between their countries.
Ishiba emphasized Japan’s ongoing position of urging the U.S. to remove all recent tariff measures, stating that the focus should be on investment rather than tariffs. He also reaffirmed Japan’s commitment to encouraging increased Japanese investment in the U.S. to help create more American jobs.
The phone call came shortly after Japan’s Economic Revitalization Minister Ryosei Akazawa, the lead Japanese negotiator on tariffs, traveled to Washington for a third round of talks with U.S. officials. Previous discussions had not yielded agreement on Japan’s requests.
Ishiba told reporters that during the call, he reminded Trump of Japan’s stance that all recent U.S. tariffs on Japanese imports should be eliminated. Trump did not give a direct response.
The U.S. currently imposes a 25% tariff on Japanese automobile imports, a major component of Japan’s trade with the U.S. and a significant factor in Japan’s economic growth. Although Trump has eased some of these tariffs, higher tariffs on steel and aluminum imports remain.
Ishiba noted that Friday’s phone talks lasted about 45 minutes and covered a variety of subjects, including security cooperation between the two nations and Trump’s recent visit to the Middle East.
Both leaders also agreed to meet again during the upcoming Group of Seven summit in Canada next month to continue their discussions.
