Japan will tread carefully in US trade talks while preparing to strike South Korea from ‘white list’
- US President Donald Trump has pressured Tokyo to speed up talks for a two-way trade deal that would open up Japan’s market for US goods
- Japan will decide on August 2 to remove South Korea from list of countries that enjoy preferential treatment in trade, with cabinet approval all but certain.
Japanese Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi is making preparations to meet with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in Washington on August 1 for ministerial-level trade talks, two sources familiar with the matter said.
The two last held talks last month in Osaka, where Japan hosted the G20 summit meeting. The meeting will take into account any progress made at bilateral working-level talks taking place from July 24.
US President Donald Trump has pressured Tokyo to speed up talks for a two-way trade deal that would open up Japan’s market for US goods, particularly in areas of agriculture, and fix what he sees as a huge bilateral trade imbalance.
Japan is wary of making any concessions on political sensitive areas like agriculture and instead wants to prod the US into cutting tariffs on auto parts.
Bilateral trade negotiations are expected to speed up ahead of an expected visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to New York in September, where he is expected to meet Trump, according to Japanese officials.
Although Abe is one of Trump’s closest allies, the president has threatened to slap on 25 per cent tariffs on car imports from Japan to smooth out what he calls an unfair trade imbalance.
Japan’s trade surplus with the US was US$67.6 billion in goods in 2018, with nearly two-thirds coming from auto exports, according to US figures.
