Japan’s Ishiba Pushes Back Against Doubts Over US Trade Talks

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba pushed back against the idea there has been little progress in negotiations with the US on a trade deal as a deadline looms for a 24% across-the-board tariff to take force.

“The talks are steadily but undoubtedly moving forward. There are a wide range of areas including non-tariff barriers that are being covered, but the talks on each of these points are progressing, step by step,” he said in a televised interview on Thursday evening.

He struck a different tone from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who said on Thursday that Japan’s upper house election on July 20 is putting “domestic constraints” on sealing a potential trade deal. Bessent’s comments followed a slew of critical comments about Japan in recent days from US President Donald Trump.

Ishiba was likely trying to play down concerns that Japan will not be able to win major concessions from the US and could also get blindsided by a unilateral US decision to impose tariffs as high as 35%. Still, he gave no indication that a deal was imminent ahead of the July 9 start of higher “reciprocal” tariff rates.

The July 20 upper house election cited by Bessent will see voters deliver a verdict on the performance of Ishiba’s minority government. Inflation is the top concern of the electorate, according to opinion polls, but a rushed trade deal that is seen giving Trump too many concessions would not be favourably viewed.

Japan is most concerned about a separate sectoral tariff of 25% on its auto industry, one of the economy’s key drivers of growth and a major employer. Japan’s trade negotiators have insisted that the auto tariffs must be part of any deal and have emphasised the sector’s contribution to investment and job creation in the US.

Trump has criticised Japan in recent days for not buying US cars or rice and threatened to raise the reciprocal tariff as high as 35%, raising fears that he may be targeting the country in his mission to reshape global trade arrangements.

The prime minister said some of Trump’s understanding of trade between Japan and the US was based on inaccuracies.

“President Trump has said there are no American cars in Japan, and Japan doesn’t import US rice, but these claims are based on misconceptions,” he said. “Japan is the biggest investor in the US and creates the most jobs, so I would like to see those efforts appreciated as well.”

Source: Bloomperg