Japan’s trade minister fails to win tariff exemption assurance from U.S.

Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yoji Muto delivers his remarks during the 2nd Asia Zero Emission Community Leaders Meeting on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Vientiane, Laos, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara) (Dita Alangkara/AP)

WASHINGTON — Japan’s trade minister on Monday said he asked the United States not to impose trade tariffs on his country, but did not win any assurance that Japan would be exempt, including from a 25 per cent steel and aluminum duty set to start on Wednesday.

“We agreed to continue close consultations with the U.S. government and to hold discussions at the working level as soon as possible,” Yoji Muto said in Washington D.C. after meetings with Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, and White house economic adviser Kevin Hassett.

In a bid to persuade President Donald Trump to exempt Japan from tariffs on cars and other products, Muto and other senior Japanese officials are touting Japan as a close economic partner that has invested heavily in the U.S. economy and created millions of jobs.

The new 25 per cent tariff rates on steel and aluminum imports into the United States are set take effect on March 12, according to the executive orders signed by President Donald Trump last month.

In talks with his U.S. counterparts, Muto said they also discussed Japan buying more U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG), a gas pipeline project in Alaska, and Nippon Steel’s 5401.Tbid to buy U.S. Steel.

Reporting by Tim Kelly; Writing by Kantaro KomiyaEditing by Chang-Ran Kim and Gerry Doyle.