President Trump said Japan is set to kick off tariff negotiations with the US in Washington on Wednesday — becoming one of the first countries to test his willingness to relent on the sweeping levies.
“Japan is coming in today to negotiate Tariffs, the cost of military support, and ‘TRADE FAIRNESS’,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
“I will attend the meeting, along with Treasury & Commerce Secretaries. Hopefully something can be worked out which is good (GREAT!) for Japan and the USA!”
It comes a day after the Trump administration said it had been presented with offers from at least 15 nations for bespoke trade deals following the president’s announcement last week of a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs.
More than 75 countries have reached out to request talks, too.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is slated to join the talks with Tokyo’s top trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa, has said there is a “first mover advantage” given the number of countries trying to hash out deals.
Ahead of the 90-day pause, Japan was hit with 24% levies on exports to the US. A 10% universal rate still remains in place, though, as does a 25% duty for cars — a mainstay of Japan’s export economy.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba had said Monday that his country wouldn’t be rushing into a deal — and didn’t plan on making huge concessions.
Still, Ishiba, at least for now, has ruled out retaliatory tariffs.
News of the sit-down, meanwhile, sparked optimism among some economists.
“I’m confident that Japan and the US will be able to work out a good deal that benefits both nations, opens more consumer markets to each other’s exporters, and accounts for the military aid we have provided to Japan for decades,” said EJ Antoni, an economist with the Heritage Foundation.
“These negotiations are ultimately about making trade more free, not less. It’s also imperative that we continue isolating China from its geographical and economic neighbors, making Japan a key early ally in this process.”
Kurt Tong, a managing partner at the Asia Group consultancy firm, suggested Japan could face difficulties because of the leverage the US already has.
“The difficulty for the Japanese team is that the United States has created a huge amount of leverage for itself, unilaterally,” said Tong, a former State Department official.
“The US is offering to not hit Japan with sticks, and Japan is stuck in a position of offering a whole lot of carrots. And from their perspective, it feels like economic coercion.”
The exact scope of Wednesday’s discussions wasn’t immediately clear.
The White House has already said it wants to resolve other issues with its close ally, including what Tokyo pays toward the cost of hosting US troops in Japan.
The sit-down could also address energy projects and the thorny issue of exchange rates.
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