Customs duties: negotiations between Japan and the United States at an impasse
Japanese negotiators, keen to defend their country's auto industry, find themselves in a situation where talks are almost at a standstill, the Japanese press reported after the meeting on June 16 between US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
During the first round of trade talks on US tariffs against Japan, which took place in mid-April, Donald Trump appeared confident alongside Ryosei Akazawa, Minister of Economic Revitalization and head of the Japanese delegation, hailing in a message on X a “great progress.” As Washington is a key partner for Tokyo in economic and security matters, the negotiations with the Japanese had “a test value” for the upcoming talks with other countries and regions for the Trump administration, the Japanese press reported at the time.
However, barely two months later, it's hard to say that negotiations are progressing as both sides would have liked. On the sidelines of the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Canada, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba held a half-hour private meeting with US President Donald Trump on June 16, reports the Japanese news agency Jiji Tsushin .
The goal of this meeting was to find an agreement on American customs duties. However, during the summit in Canada,
Courrier International
