Akazawa Holds 5th Round of Tariff Talks in U.S.; Eyes Agreement during G7 Summit in Mid-June

By Kentaro Kuroki and Takeru Kise / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers

16:14 JST, June 6, 2025

WASHINGTON — Economic revitalization minister Ryosei Akazawa, who is now visiting the United States, had a meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Thursday afternoon local time, during which he demanded the lifting of a series of tariff measures by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

On Friday, Akazawa was to hold talks with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who presides over the U.S. side of the tariff negotiations, aiming to speed up the arrangement of an agreement between the leaders of the two countries.

This marks the fifth round of ministerial-level negotiations, for which Akazawa has visited the United States every week for the past three weeks.

“[In this round of negotiations], we will further deepen our discussion of such topics as the expansion of trade, non-tariff measures and cooperation on economic security,” Akazawa told reporters ahead of the talks on Thursday.

During the negotiations so far, the Japanese side has made proposals such as expanding its imports of farm products, which the U.S. side had demanded, and reviewing non-tariff barriers to automobile imports. With countering China in mind, the Japanese side is also considering a policy of collaborating to strengthen supply networks for rare earths and semiconductors.

Since it is clear that some progress was made during the previous four rounds of negotiations, the Japanese side intends to bring the discussions to a close in hopes that an agreement between the leaders of the two countries can be made in time for the Group of Seven summit meeting in mid-June.