Japan eyes mutually agreeable ‘landing point’ in US trade talks

ISTANBUL

Japan’s top tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said Tuesday that his country is eying a mutually agreeable “landing point” in trade talks with the US, while protecting its national interests, according to a statement.

His remarks came during a meeting with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington.

"Both sides engaged in another frank and in-depth discussion to realize a mutually beneficial agreement for both Japan and the United States," it said.

Akazawa, who is minister in charge of economic revitalization, is in Washington for an eighth round of talks. He arrived one day after elections in Japan that saw Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party-led coalition lose its majority in the upper house.

The US and Japan have held talks and three calls between President Donald Trump and Ishiba.

Earlier, he told reporters that he wants to reach an agreement with the US before reciprocal tariffs take effect Aug. 1, Kyodo News agency reported Tuesday.

“I believe that both Japan and the United States have a desire to reach some kind of agreement by then,” he added, referring to the deadline for a pause on Trump’s reciprocal tariffs.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC, however, that the Trump administration is “more concerned with high-quality deals” and “we’re not going to rush for the sake of doing deals.”

Akazawa said he hopes to meet Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer during his visit.

Before Akazawa's arrival, Bessent pointed out that the priorities of the US are not the internal workings of the Japanese government but getting the best deal for the American people.

At a news conference Monday in Tokyo, Ishiba vowed to stay on as prime minister, emphasizing that Japan is the world's largest investor nation and job creator in the US.

"Therefore, or should I say precisely because of this, we have been saying investment rather than tariffs and making various efforts in a bid to gain the understanding (of the US)," Ishiba said.

Tokyo and Washington have been negotiating a deal to avoid 25% US tariffs on Japanese exports to the world's largest economy.

Trump notified several US trading partners of increased country-specific "reciprocal tariff" rates on July 7, with Japan due to be subject to 25% tariffs on Aug. 1 unless a deal is reached.

*Writing by Aamir Latif