Keidanren Chief Worried over New U.S. Tariffs

Tokyo, Feb. 25 (Jiji Press)–Top Japanese business leader Yoshinobu Tsutsui has expressed concern over new tariffs introduced by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. At a press conference Tuesday, the chairman of the Japan Business Federation, the nation’s biggest business lobby known as Keidanren, welcomed the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling Friday that invalidated Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, saying, “The judicial branch’s check-and-balance function worked.” On the Trump administration’s new tariffs, imposed on all of the United States’ trade partners in place of the reciprocal tariffs, Tsutsui said, “Uncertainty will likely continue for the time being, and predictability (for doing U.S.-related business) is declining for Japanese companies.” The U.S. top court’s decision is “a plus for the economy as a whole, but the situation has since changed, increasing risks concerning investment decisions,” he continued. Meanwhile, the Keidanren leader said that Japan’s pledge to make investments and loans of up to 550 billion dollars in the United States, made as part of the two countries’ tariff deal struck last year, should be maintained in light of the need to strengthen Japan-U.S. relations, including bilateral security cooperation. Still, Tsutsui said Japanese companies that have sued the United States for refunds of tariffs they have paid “need to act resolutely to a certain extent,” while urging the Japanese government to “put efforts into creating an environment in which Japanese firms can address challenges through appropriate communication.” He said that China’s ban on dual-use goods exports to 20 Japanese companies and organizations, announced Tuesday, is “extremely regrettable,” calling for the cancellation of the measure. China took the step apparently as part of retaliation for Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s parliamentary remarks last November concerning a possible contingency over Taiwan, which Beijing considers to be at the center of its core interests. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]