Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks at a ministerial meeting on countermeasures against U.S. tariffs on April 8. (Takeshi Iwashita)

After failing in his own attempt, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba instructed his Cabinet ministers to call on the Trump administration to review its steep tariffs against Japan.

In the first ministerial meeting on countermeasures against U.S. tariffs on April 8, Ishiba also called on the ministers to devise measures to support domestic industries that will be affected.

The U.S. “reciprocal tariffs” on all imports from Japan are scheduled to take effect on April 9 on top of industry-specific duties on automobiles, steel and aluminum.

“Broad trade restrictions by the United States will have a significant impact not only on Japan and the United States but also on the global economy and the multilateral trading system,” Ishiba said at the meeting.

The ministers were told to analyze the impact of U.S. tariffs on Japan, continue to demand the U.S. government reconsider them and provide necessary support to domestic industries.

In a phone call on April 7, Ishiba urged U.S. President Donald Trump to reconsider the tariffs. Trump, however, showed no signs of relenting.

The two leaders did agree that their administrations would appoint Cabinet members to continue trade talks.

Ishiba put long-time ally Ryosei Akazawa, minister for economic revitalization, in charge of Japan-U.S. ministerial negotiations over the tariff issue.

Calls for measures to alleviate the impact of tariffs on businesses and consumers have grown within both the ruling coalition and the opposition camp.

At a news conference on April 8, Makoto Nishida, secretary-general of junior coalition partner Komeito, suggested financial support to businesses and subsidies to maintain employment as emergency measures.

He said additional steps, such as benefits, tax cuts and wage hikes, are required to “stabilize domestic demand.”

Nishida added that he told Hiroshi Moriyama, secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, that “all means available must be mobilized to protect people’s lives.”

At a separate news conference, Masaji Matsuyama, secretary-general for the LDP in the Upper House, said, “All options must be kept open to underpin domestic consumption.”

Matsuyama said such options must include a cut in the consumption tax rate on food, a proposal that Ishiba has been reluctant to embrace.

But some government officials dismissed demands for tax cuts and other generous economic measures as ploys to win over voters ahead of the Upper House election this summer.

“They have nothing to do with tariffs,” said a senior official of one ministry in charge of economic affairs. “We must identify who will be hit the hardest and respond to their needs.”

(This article was written by Kei Kobayashi and Shinkai Kawabe.)

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