Photo/Illutration Ryosei Akazawa, right, minister in charge of economic revitalization, shakes hands with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent ahead of tariff negotiations in Washington on May 1. Bessent is accompanied by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, third from right, and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. (Pool)

Japan is using fighter jets and cruise missiles as potential bargaining chips in negotiations over U.S. tariffs, telling the United States that it will buy trillions of yen worth of U.S. defense equipment over several years. 

According to government sources, the overall amount of planned purchases was presented to the U.S. side during tariff negotiations that started in April following discussions within the government.

A large part of defense equipment covered by the plan are items that the government already decided to source from the United States over five years through fiscal 2027 under the Defense Buildup Program, which was established at the end of 2022, the sources said.

The program calls for procurement of Tomahawk cruise missiles, F-35A fighter jets and other U.S. defense equipment items in phases over the five-year period.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has said national security issues should not be linked with tariff negotiations.

But U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly complained about the country’s trade deficit of about 10 trillion yen ($69 billion) with Japan.

A government official said it is important to show Trump how much Japan will buy from the United States by the numbers.

Ryosei Akazawa, minister in charge of economic revitalization, met with Ishiba on May 29 before flying to the United States for a fourth round of tariff negotiations with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other senior U.S. administration officials.

Akazawa told reporters after the meeting that national defense, tariffs and trade policies should not be lumped together for negotiations because “different logic and standards apply to each.”

Still, he suggested that Japan’s purchases of U.S. defense equipment, which are expected to help reduce the bilateral trade imbalance, might have a role to play in Japan-U.S. negotiations.

During Trump’s first presidency, the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to buy 105 additional F-35 fighter jets from the United States in the midst of bilateral trade negotiations.

(This article was written by Taro Ono and Mizuki Sato.)

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