Japan to get priority in trade talks after Trump-Ishiba call

Yoshiaki Nohara, Daniel Flatley and Hadriana Lowenkron, Bloomberg News on Apr 7, 2025

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Japan looks set to get priority in U.S. tariff talks, moving to the front of a long line of countries seeking to roll back President Donald Trump’s so-called reciprocal duties, which are scheduled to kick in on Wednesday.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who along with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will lead the American side of the negotiations, said: “I would expect that Japan is going to get priority” among trading partners for coming forward very quickly.

The push to hold bilateral trade talks comes as Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba convened a full-cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning to discuss the tariffs. Ahead of the meeting, he reiterated that the U.S. tariffs are regrettable and voiced concerns over the impact they would have on Japan’s huge auto industry.

“Needless to say ... the auto industry is the very pillar of our economy. These tariffs could also leave a deep impact across various industries,” Ishiba said ahead of the meeting.

Trump slapped Japan with a 24% across-the-board reciprocal tariff in addition to a 25% auto duty.

“I have very serious misgivings over the compatibility of the tariffs imposed by the U.S. government with the WTO agreement and the Japan-U.S. Trade Agreement,” Ishiba added.

Shares in Japan jumped Tuesday morning on optimism the duties might be eased back. By mid-morning, the broader Topix had risen as much as 6.7%, while the Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained as much as 6.2%, the biggest intraday gains for both gauges since August. Futures for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 also rose.

The meeting followed a call between Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Monday, where Ishiba said that the tariff measures would reduce the capabilities of Japanese companies to invest in the U.S. Trump has vowed his tariffs would encourage companies to move manufacturing to America.

Japan has yet to announce its point person for the trade talks. Economic Revitalization Minister Ryosei Akazawa said he wasn’t aware of a local media report that said he was selected for the role while saying he hasn’t received such an order from Ishiba. Trade Minister Yoji Muto said no specific names have been raised for the selection.

Bessent, speaking on Fox Business, said that Japan maintains “quite high” non-tariff barriers, but expected a very productive set of negotiations with Japan. As for timing, the Treasury chief said “there are 50, 60, maybe almost 70 countries now who have approached us. So it’s going to be a busy April, May, maybe into June.”

While Japan appears to be getting fast-tracked for trade talks, China is facing a dramatically different approach.

Trump has threatened to pile on an additional 50% tariff on top of existing duties if Beijing doesn’t back down from what he called “long-term trading abuses.” The move could have a seismic effect on the price of imports from the US’s third-largest trading partner.

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(With assistance from Akemi Terukina, Sakura Murakami, Christopher Anstey and Yuko Takeo.)

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