We reported earlier that Japan’s prime minister Shigeru Ishiba had spoken to Donald Trump and strongly urged him “to reconsider its measures” (see post at 7.40pm).
Now, US treasury secretary Scott Bessent has said he expects to have productive negotiations with Japan over the country’s high non-tariff barriers, adding he hoped negotiations could bring tariffs down.
“For countries that don’t retaliate, we are at a maximum tariff level, and it is my hope that through good negotiations, all we will do is see levels come down,” Bessent told Fox Business Network.
“But that’s going to depend on the other countries. And if President Trump is going to be personally involved in these negotiations, and he believes, as many of us do, that there’s been an unfair playing field, so the negotiation is going to be tough.”
For context: Japan has been impacted significantly as a result of Trump’s levies.
His decision to slap a 25% levy on auto imports and a reciprocal 24% tariff on other Japanese goods will likely deal a huge blow to the export-heavy economy.
