Washington, DC: According to media reports, US President Donald Trump expressed skepticism about negotiating a trade agreement with Japan, only a day after threatening to increase taxes on Japanese exports to the US and asserting that Japan would not purchase American rice.
“Japan has been dealt with. “I doubt that we will reach an agreement with Japan,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One on Tuesday. “They and others are so spoiled from having ripped us off for 30 or 40 years that it’s really hard for them to make a deal.”
The 90-day respite on Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs,” which ends on July 9, is drawing near, and US trading partners, notably Japan, are trying to reach agreements that would please the US president. On April 2, Trump began his worldwide tariff onslaught, imposing a 24% penalty on Japanese exports to the US before halting them for three months.
Trump made the remark as Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and his Australian and Indian colleagues were in Washington for a Quad conference. It also came after Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s tariff negotiator, traveled to Washington for trade negotiations for the seventh time last week.
Although Trump’s tough tariffs have put the US’s relationship with Japan to the test, Japan remains a vital trading partner and security ally in East Asia.
Trump also said on Tuesday that he had no intention of prolonging the tariff moratorium beyond July 9.
He said, “I’m not thinking about a pause,” when a reporter asked whether he was thinking about giving him more breathing space.
“We won’t even permit commerce with some nations. In reference to the tariff rate, he said, “But for the most part, we’re going to determine a number.”
In a social media statement on Monday, Trump first charged that Japan did not purchase rice from the United States. But that assertion is untrue.
According to the US Census Bureau, Japan purchased rice from the US for USD 298 million last year. This year, Japan spent USD 114 million on rice between January and April.
On Tuesday, however, Trump reiterated the assertion.
“They need rice so badly, but they won’t take rice,” he said. “We didn’t give them one car in ten years,” he said, adding that the Japanese likewise don’t purchase US automobiles.
According to the Japan Automobile Importers Association, 16,707 American cars were imported into Japan last year, CNN reported.
According to Trump, an undetermined tariff rate would be the most probable outcome for Japan.
“What I’m going to do is I’ll write them a letter to say, ‘We thank you very much, and we know you can’t do the kind of things that we need, and therefore you pay 30%, 35%, or whatever the number is that we determine,'” Trump said.
Whether Japanese authorities engaged in continuing trade talks with the United States have said that they would no longer purchase rice from the United States in the future is uncertain.
Kazuhiko Aoki, Japan’s Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, said on Wednesday that trade negotiations between the two countries are still ongoing. He claimed that Trump’s assertions are known to the Japanese government, but he would not comment.
“Japan will continue to engage vigorously in sincere and honest discussions toward the realization of an agreement that will benefit both Japan and the United States,” he said.
According to CNN, Trump’s tariffs on autos, a vital component of the Japanese economy, are the major reason why trade talks between the US and Japan have stalled.
Trump has not backed down from Japan’s demand that the US reduce the 25% vehicle tax it imposed.
Trump spoke with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the G7 conference in mid-June. Despite their agreement to continue trade talks, no significant progress was made at the meeting.