Japan’s top government spokesperson denied on Monday that Tokyo made too many concessions in trade talks with the US, saying the fact the two countries were able to reach a broad agreement was “very valuable.”
In announcing the deal with Abe on the sidelines of a G7 summit in France, Trump made no public commitment to drop his threat to slap additional tariffs on Japanese automobiles.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said he believed the US would not resort to fresh tariffs because Trump and Abe had previously agreed that Washington would hold off while talks were under way.
“Japan and the US have negotiated based on the joint statement last September,” Suga said. “Related ministers agreed based on that.”
The agreement was reached after marathon talks between Japan’s Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in Washington last week.
Lighthizer said that the deal, which covered agriculture, industrial tariffs and digital trade, would open up Japanese markets to US goods and lead to a substantial reduction in tariffs on such items as beef.
Japan imports about $14 billion worth of US agricultural products. The agreement will open up markets to over $7 billion of such products, Lighthizer said, adding that beef, pork, wheat, dairy products, wine and ethanol would benefit.
