Photo/Illutration Ryosei Akazawa, minister of economic revitalization, meets with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at the start of tariff negotiations in Washington, D.C., on May 1 as Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, far left, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stand by. (Pool)

In the Japan-U.S. negotiations over high tariffs imposed unilaterally by the Trump administration, Washington has indicated tariffs on autos, steel and aluminum already implemented would not be covered in the talks.

The method of arbitrarily defining the limits of what items will be covered and removing others from the negotiation framework can only be called a high-handed act by a major power.

The Japanese government must persistently and firmly ask for the retraction of all higher tariffs.

The reciprocal tariffs announced by Washington for almost all nations and regions of the world, include an across-the-board 10-percent tariff along with an additional tariff for different nations. In the case of Japan, that additional tariff has been set at 14 percent.

According to government sources, U.S. officials took the stance of only agreeing to negotiate that additional tariff.

The objective of the negotiations will be left up in the air if there is no hope from even the start of the withdrawal of all higher tariffs.

Japan must continue to stand resolutely by its position of protecting the free trading structure.

After the second round of ministerial-level talks concluded on May 1, Ryosei Akazawa, the minister of economic revitalization who is heading the Japanese negotiating team, said further talks would be held at the working level, with the next round of ministerial-level talks likely to be held sometime after mid-May.

He also expressed hope that an agreement could be reached at a summit meeting before the end of June.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has said he is seeking results from the negotiations that would lead to benefits for both Japan and the United States. But there is already disagreement at the very start of the talks about what items would be subject to the negotiations.

While the United States may want to produce results as early as possible in making deals on the tariffs, Japan should not easily compromise.

In particular, Japan cannot allow to continue the higher tariffs imposed on automobiles and auto parts as well as steel and aluminum that are the main materials for such products.

Because automobiles account for about 30 percent of exports to the United States, it is a core sector that affects a wide range of companies.

A month has passed since the 25-percent additional tariff was imposed on autos and if that measure should continue for an extended period, there will be no avoiding a major impact.

If automakers are forced to reduce production, their partner auto parts manufacturers will also be forced to adjust their production. There is the fear that some of those companies will face difficulties continuing with operations.

The 25-percent tariff on auto parts was imposed from May 3 and there are concerns of even further negative ramifications.

On the other hand, the U.S. side has criticized Japan’s auto safety inspection system as a nontariff barrier that interferes with the export of U.S. autos to Japan and has called for a review.

But that criticism is off-target because the Japanese system is almost in line with the so-called U.N. standard that many nations and regions utilize.

Bending to an unreasonable demand that threatens the safety of those involved with automobiles can never be allowed.

Since the 1980s, Japanese automakers have poured huge investments into the United States so there will be a need to repeatedly point out the benefits that these major contributions have made to the U.S. economy.

--The Asahi Shimbun, May 4

Related News