Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters the Prime Minister’s Office on July 24. (Takeshi Iwashita)

Embattled Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba adopted a business-as-usual outlook as he vowed to dispel uncertainties among Japanese businesses over the tariff deal reached with the Trump administration.

Despite facing calls to resign over the ruling coalition’s bruising finish in the July 20 Upper House election, Ishiba alluded to unfinished work that will keep him in office.

He met reporters at the Prime Minister’s Office on July 24 to brief them about the Japan-U.S. agreement on tariffs.

After holding talks with Ryosei Akazawa, the minister for economic revitalization and Japan’s chief trade negotiator with the United States, Ishiba said, “We will continue to make every effort to wipe out the anxieties of businesses and related industries in Japan.”

U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Japan agreed during the course of the tariff negotiations to make additional annual purchases of U.S. military and other equipment worth billions of dollars.

“There is no discrepancy between Japan and the United States regarding defense equipment,” Ishiba told reporters.

When asked about expanded rice imports from the United States, which was also part of the tariff negotiations, Ishiba explained that Japan would import the staple within the existing trade framework, saying, “We will never consider sacrificing Japanese farmers.”

The 68-year-old prime minister again poured cold water on talk he will resign, saying he wanted to assuage fears among domestic businesses about the tariff agreement that takes effect on Aug. 1.

“It is important to implement this agreement reached between the president and myself,” he said.

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