The United States has vowed it would not levy additional tarrifs on Japanese automobile exports while in talks on a bilateral trade agreement, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Thursday.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2018) The United States has vowed it would not levy additional tarrifs on Japanese automobile exports while in talks on a bilateral trade agreement, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Thursday.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced that the two countries had agreed to start bilateral trade negotiations. According to a joint statement released by the White House, the two leaders agreed to respect each government's positions which include, for the United States, market access to Japan's motor vehicle sector which will boost US jobs and production. Tokyo, for its part, wants access to US agricultural, forestry, and fishery product markets as reflected in Japan's previous economic partnership agreement, the joint statement said.
"Both Japanese and US governments are planning to hold further discussions based on trust relationship, and it has been confirmed that no actions which contradict the spirit of this agreement will take place. [The United States] will not impose [additional] tariffs on [Japanese-made] automobiles while negotiations are taking place, it has been confirmed between the two leaders and ministers," Suga told a briefing.
The official noted that the agreement between the two leaders was only the beginning, as concrete trade negotiations would be launched later.
"I think that these talks will not be easy, but we would like to proceed with these negotiations in a manner that will contribute to the national interests from the standpoint of attacking what we should attack and protecting what we should protect," Suga said.�
US and Japanese trade officials have held a series of ministerial consultations this year to explore ways to close the gap on their positions in the bilateral trade relationship while expanding areas of cooperation.
Earlier this month, Trump told reporters that the Japanese would not negotiate with the Obama administration because "they felt there was going to be no retribution." The US president also said that Tokyo will have a "big problem" if they fail to reach a trade accord with the United States.
