Intensive Diet Deliberations on Tariffs: New Perspective Needed for Negotiations with U.S.

Editorial

15:10 JST, April 22, 2025

The House of Councillors Budget Committee held intensive deliberations on the Japan-U.S. tariff negotiations, and the government explained some aspects of the talks.

The U.S. side addressed issues including the trade deficit with Japan, non-tariff barriers for automobiles and the cost of stationing U.S. troops in Japan, and called for improvements, according to the government.

However, all of U.S. President Donald Trump’s demands are based on erroneous facts. It is surprising that such proposals are still openly being made.

In a meeting with Japan’s economic revitalization minister Ryosei Akazawa, who was in charge of the negotiations, Trump reportedly said that the U.S. trade deficit with Japan is as high as ¥17 trillion and that not a single U.S. car is running on Japan’s roads. He also said Japan does not sufficiently bear the cost of stationing U.S. forces at bases in Japan.

Actually, the U.S. trade deficit with Japan was about ¥10 trillion in 2024. Japan provides military bases to the United States based on the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, and it bears over ¥200 billion a year of the cost of stationing U.S. forces in Japan.

The U.S. side also reportedly stressed that Japan’s non-tariff barriers, including strict safety standards, have led to sluggish sales of U.S. automobiles. However, many have pointed out as the reason that the large size and having the steering wheel on the left make them less user-friendly.

These points have been explained many times since the administration of then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and Trump must have understood them. The fact that, despite this, he is repeating these old assertions may be a tactic to emphasize the pressing situation the United States is facing.

As an ally, Japan must cooperate with the United States in areas where it can. It is also necessary to examine whether there are possible measures to improve the U.S. trade deficit with Japan.

For example, given the current shortage of rice in Japan, one idea would be to expand the duty-free rice import quota called “minimum access.” The reexamination of vehicle safety standards is also an issue for consideration.

As other countries are paying close attention to how the Japan-U.S. negotiations are proceeding, Japan should smoothly move the talks forward.

It is also essential for Japan to have a new perspective of reconstructing Japan’s strategy, including a review of conventional economic policies and a strengthening of diplomacy to expand free trade, by using these negotiations with the United States as an opportunity.

With the tariff issue spreading unrest not only in Japan but around the world, the upper house Budget Committee meeting on April 21 included the questioning as an unsworn witness of Hiroshige Seko, a member of the House of Representatives who left the ruling Liberal Democratic Party last year due to a political funds scandal.

Seko denied any involvement in the resumption of the kickback of funds from the now-defunct Abe faction to its lawmakers, which had been suspended at one point.

Although many lawmakers have already explained the issue of the kickback of funds at the Diet, the details of the scandal have not been clarified. How long will the Diet repeat the same thing?

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, April 22, 2025)