Japan Opposes Less Favorable Treatment under New U.S. Tariffs

Tokyo, Feb. 24 (Jiji Press)–Japan has urged the United States to ensure that the Asian country is not treated less favorably under Washington’s new tariffs than under a bilateral tariff agreement struck last year. Japanese trade minister Ryosei Akazawa made the request during roughly 40-minute phone talks with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Monday, the trade chief told a press conference Tuesday. U.S. President Donald Trump announced the new tariff measure after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled his reciprocal tariffs unconstitutional Friday. The bilateral deal includes a special measure capping the combined rate of the reciprocal tariffs and existing levies at 15 pct for Japanese goods. Akazawa did not say whether this cap would also be included in the new measure. “We agreed that the sincere and prompt implementation of the Japan-U.S. agreement is important for both countries,” the trade minister said of his phone talks with Lutnick. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said at a separate press conference Tuesday that Tokyo plans to steadily implement its pledge to make investments and loans of up to 550 billion dollars in the United States as part of the tariff deal. Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said she will “fully scrutinize the details of the (Supreme Court) ruling and its potential impacts, and closely monitor related developments.” Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Norikazu Suzuki said he has requested the U.S. side to work on preventing Japanese companies from being adversely affected by possible confusion regarding customs procedures. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]