The Japanese negotiator responsible for finding the result of the duties of US customs said he had “frank and constructive discussions” with the Trump and Washington administration on Thursday, at a time when Tokyo is preparing possible concessions and evokes the weapon of treasure bill.
“We were able to progress in concrete discussions on the development of bilateral trade, non -land measures, economic and security cooperation,” the Minister of Economic Revitalization Ryosei Akazawa told the press.
The latter spoke with the American secretary of the Treasury Scott Besent, whom he had already met in mid -April in the company of the president of the United States, Donald Trump.
The nearby ally of Washington and the first source of foreign investments in the United States, Japan has been attacked since the beginning of April by the American customs of 25% in the car and steel. However, the car represents almost 30% of Japanese exports for the United States. Japan is also threatened with a “reciprocal” surcharge of 24% in all its exports, at rest until the beginning of July. A 10%Pompiladón Tax is already applied.
“General Agreement”
An next cycle of “Intensive Ministerial Negotiations” is planned from mid -May, Ryosei Akazawa said, who hopes to conclude in June a “general agreement” that covers all subjects. “We have not yet reached the stadium where we can find reasons for understanding,” said Prime Minister Shigeru Ihiba on Friday, while greeting “positive and constructive” discussions.
To escape prohibitive customs tasks, Japan could offer to buy more American corn and soybeans, soften rules on imported US cars and continue discussions about the development of liquefied natural gas deposits (LNG) in Alaska. And this to “rebalance” its commercial colossal of $ 68.5 billion with the United States.
According to Japanese media, future discussions could focus on automotive and agricultural products. But “we have no intention of negotiating in a way that affects national interest,” insisted Ryosei Akazawa. He also assured that the issue of China Japanese commercial relations had not been addressed on Thursday. Beijing recently warned countries that play “appeasement” with the United States against any commercial agreement that compromises their own interests.
“We have very solid commercial relations with China” as with the United States “, and we will continue to continue with great interest the evolution of relations but American,” Ryosei Akazawa simply commented. In addition, he said, negotiations have not affected security problems, while Donald Trump often points to the cost of the United States military support in Japan, or to the value of the Japanese currency.
The Trump administration easily accuses Tokyo of involuntarily taking advantage of a weakened yen to boost their exports. After gloomy economic forecasts of the Bank of Japan, the Japanese motto has depended largely in recent hours, approaching 146 yen for a dollar, but remains much stronger than in January.
Treasure
In the absence of advances, Tokyo could address the tone: Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato told TV Tokyo on Friday that Japan’s assets in the coupons of the US Treasury, whose quantity is not made public, could be “an asset.” “It is natural to discuss the advantages we have in hand. Whether we are using or not” selling a game to press Washington, “that is another question,” he said.
According to the calculations of the Bloomberg agency, approximately half of the $ 943 billion in foreign currencies claimed by Japan at the end of March could consist of the US debt. Such a large volume of treasure invoices that all possible assignments must be gradual so as not to threaten the value of the preserved values.
Massive sales of worried investors had also caused a debacle of the US Bonds Market. In April, with an increase in rates that had forced the Trump administration to change and break their “reciprocal” surcharges. Another large creditor in the United States, Beijing also has large reservations in dollars that probably build a lever in future commercial conversations.
Source: BFM TV
