Darlene Superville and Mari Yamaguchi, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said he has joined some of his top economic advisers to negotiate tariffs at the White House on Wednesday and trade with senior Japanese officials traveling to Washington for consultation.
The Republican president, in his post on social media platforms, attended the meeting with Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent and Commerce Secretary Howard Rutnick, who said he was the top economic adviser who plays a central role in trade and tariff policy.
Trump recently announced global tariffs, but quickly put them on hold for 90 days after the market fought and terrified of a recession. He left sudden tariffs in place against China.
The move leaves Japan with 24% withholding tariffs on board, but 10% baseline fees and 25% of exports of cars, auto parts, steel and aluminum remain in presence to the US.
Japan, like many other countries around the world who fear Trump’s tariffs and the possibility of economic fallout, is rushing to respond. We have established a special task force to assess the impact of tariffs and provide loans and consultations to uneasy businesses.
Although Prime Minister Isba has worked hard to exempt Trump from exemptions, the government has hardly made any official statements about which concessions could offer during these talks.
“Japan is coming today to negotiate tariffs, military assistance costs and ‘trade equity.’ Trump wrote on a social media post. “Hopefully something will be solved (great!) for Japan and the United States!”
Japan’s chief trade negotiator, Minister of Economic Revitalization, Lyossie Akazawa, headed to Washington on a mission to persuade US officials to remove Trump’s tariff measures against US East Asian allies.
Akazawa is expected to hold its first consultation with Bescent and US trade representative Jamieson Greer by Friday.
“I’m ready for discussion,” Akazawa told reporters at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport before boarding a flight to Washington. “We will negotiate to ensure that our national interests are protected.”
He said that both Bessent and Greer are “known to be Japanese and professionally talented,” and that they want to build a trusting relationship with them. “We believe we can have a good talk about victory relationships that serve both Japan and the US in the national interest.”
Japan is one of the first countries to begin negotiations with US Trump, with other administrative officials saying their mobile phones are “slashing hooks” in dozens of countries and are eager to crave deals with the president, who considers himself a master negotiator to avoid tariffs when the 90-day suspension ends.
However, it was not immediately clear that either side wanted to get out of negotiations. The US asks that besides Trump’s desire without a bilateral trade deficit, it remains unknown.
Japan’s demands are also unknown, but he argues that Trump’s tariff measures are likely to violate bilateral trade agreements or the rules of the World Trade Organization. Isba says he is against retaliatory tariffs, but he also said he will not push the settlement forward as he does not want to make any concessions.
Trump also said he would like to discuss deterrents primarily on China, about the US military support for Japan, or how much Japan is contributing to the costs of the US troops stationed there.
Trump’s demand for more defence spending is a concern among Japanese people.
Under the national security strategy, Japan aims to double its annual defence spending by nearly $10 trillion, or 2% of GDP in 2027, but there are concerns that Trump will increase to 3% of GDP. The Japanese Defense Minister said on Tuesday that this year’s military budget is around 1.8% of Japan’s GDP.
Yamaguchi was reported from Tokyo.
Original issue: April 16, 2025 9:23am EDT
