Akazawa Eyes Tariff Deal with U.S. at Summit Meeting in June; Says American Representatives Are Growing More Aware of Japan’s Economic Contribution

By Kentaro Kuroki and Takeru Kise / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers

15:33 JST, May 24, 2025

WASHINGTON — The Japanese and U.S. governments on Friday in Washington held their third round of ministerial-level negotiations on tariffs levied by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

After the talks, Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s economic revitalization minister, expressed his intention to proceed with more talks with a view to reaching an agreement at the Japan-U.S. summit meeting scheduled to be held in mid-June on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Canada.

“We were able to have a more frank and in-depth exchange than last time,” Akazawa, who heads the Japanese delegation for the negotiations, said to reporters.

He held talks separately with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick for 90 minutes and with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer for two hours. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is leading the U.S. negotiating team, was absent.

Akazawa reiterated his demand for a review of tariffs on automobiles, steel and aluminum, as well as all “reciprocal tariffs,” during the negotiations. There was also discussion of trade expansion, review of non-tariff barriers and economic security cooperation between the two countries.

The topics of discussion were believed to have included the expansion of investment in the U.S. by the auto industry; the establishment of a supply chain that does not rely on China; and the acquisition of U.S. Steel Corp. by Nippon Steel Corp. Japan aims to extract concessions on abolishing the tariffs by cooperating in reviving the U.S. manufacturing industry, which Trump places great importance on.

“With each meeting, they are becoming more and more aware of how much Japan contributes to the U.S. economy. I expect that this will have a positive effect [on future discussions],” said Akazawa. He plans to visit the United States again as early as at the end of this month to negotiate with Bessent and others.

Prior to the talks, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba spoke with Trump by phone at the request of the U.S. side, and the two leaders agreed to hold a meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada.

Akazawa said, “It would be desirable if we could reach some kind of agreement on that occasion,” and that he would work closely with the ministers to reach an agreement between the leaders of the two countries.