Iwaya Meets Rubio, Expresses Regret Over U.S. Tariffs; Meetings Also Held with Canadian, U.K., Italian Counterparts

By Tsuyoshi Oyabu / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

16:51 JST, March 14, 2025

CHARLEVOIX, Canada — Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya held talks with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Charlevoix, Canada, on Thursday, expressing regret that Japan had not been exempted from blanket 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum products imposed by the United States.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has also announced it will introduce additional tariffs on automobiles and start reciprocal tariffs, a strategy of matching the import duty rates of trade partners if it deems that they levy high tariffs on U.S. goods. During his talks with Rubio on the sidelines of the Group of Seven foreign ministers meeting, Iwaya called for the United States to exempt Japan from these measures.

Rubio acknowledged the importance of the Japan-U.S. alliance, Iwaya said to reporters following the meeting. The U.S. secretary was quoted as saying that he would bring back to Washington what he discussed with his Japanese counterpart.

Iwaya and Rubio also discussed Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and the war in Gaza.

Prior to his talks with Rubio, Iwaya also met with Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, and the two welcomed their countries reaching an agreement in principle on concluding an information security pact to allow them to exchange classified information.

Canada is part of the five-nation intelligence-sharing network known as Five Eyes, in which the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand also take part. Japan’s move with Canada means that the nation has now concluded or agreed in principal to information security pacts with all Five Eyes members.

Through these moves, Japan aims for the exchange of classified information with the five countries to become smoother.

Iwaya also had separate talks with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, in both cases agreeing that their countries will work together in relation to the aggression in Ukraine.