Japan’s Prime Minister warns against tension over US tariffs

Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba expressed determination Thursday to defend rules-based, free and multilateral trade systems and work on expanding the main Asia-Pacific trade group at a time of tension over US tariffs.

“High tariffs will not bring economic prosperity,” Ishiba told a global forum in Tokyo. “A prosperity built on sacrifices by someone or another country will not make a strong economy.” Japan seeks to work with the US on investment, job creation and manufacturing high quality products for the prosperity of America and the rest of the world, he said.

His comment comes as Japan’s chief tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa travels to Washington, DC, for a fourth round of talks aiming to convince the US to drop all recent tariff measures.

So far, Japan has not been successful in gaining US concessions and is reportedly considering purchases of more US farm products and defence equipment as bargaining chips.

Later Thursday, Ishiba telephoned US President Donald Trump to touch base ahead of the talks in Washington. The two leaders now have “deeper understanding about each other,” Ishiba told reporters, though there is no change to Japan’s position on the tariffs. He declined to give further details.

Akazawa told reporters that defence equipment purchases could “come into view” during the talks because Japan’s purchases of defence equipment would contribute to the US trade surplus, though he said Japanese security policy is not subject to “a deal” with another country.

Ishiba, in his speech, also called on other countries in Asia, a global hub of growth, to show “the importance of rules-based, free and fair economic order,” and said the way to demonstrate that is to promote the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP. The 12-nation CPTPP includes Japan, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. The US is not a member.

Ishiba pledged that Japan will work toward further expanding and upgrading the framework, which he said not only contributes to the economy but also to peace and prosperity.