Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba Says Tariff Talks with U.S. are Unrelated to Decision on Whether to Step Down

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:24 JST, September 6, 2025

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told reporters Friday at the Prime Minister’s Office that the result of tariff talks with the United States and whether he intends to remain in office are unrelated issues.

Ishiba made the remark when reporters asked about his intentions after the United States accepted Japan’s demand for President Donald Trump to issue an executive order about the tariff issue.

Just after the initial agreement of the Japan-U.S. tariff negotiations on July 23, Ishiba told reporters, “I will consider how I will make a judgment [about remaining in office] after seeing the negotiation result.”

But this time, Ishiba denied the two issues are related.

Because Ishiba had cited the tariff talks as one of the major reasons why he intended to stay in office, some in the Liberal Democratic Party voiced a critical view.

Hideyuki Nakano, a House of Representatives member of the party, said, “The best scenario is that he makes the judgment by himself over whether he should stay on or step down once a diplomatic break has been reached.”

But Ishiba also told reporters that he had sent a personal letter inviting Trump to visit Japan via Ryosei Akazawa, minister in charge of economic revitalization, on Akazawa’s latest trip to the United States.

It was assumed that one purpose of sending the letter was to emphasize Ishiba’s intention to stay as prime minister.

Ishiba insisted, “I want to build a golden-age relationship between Japan and the United Sates with Mr. Trump.”

A senior LDP member said, “In an ordinary way of thinking, the tariff agreement [this time] offers a glorious path on which to leave, but the prime minister seems to have a strong intention to stay in office.”