Japan Reacting to U.S.-China Deal with Relief, Anxiety

Tokyo, May 14 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government is reacting with both relief and anxiety to an agreement between the United States and China to lower their tariffs.

While Tokyo officials have basically welcomed the easing of trade tensions between the world's biggest and second-biggest economies, they are also fretting over the fact that Beijing has leapfrogged them in striking a deal with Washington.

Japanese government officials are analyzing the U.S.-China deal and preparing for the next round of ministerial negotiations with the U.S. government, expected for later this month.

The superhigh tariffs that the United States and China had imposed on each other were drastically reduced in an agreement announced Monday, boosting financial markets.

The reduction "is bound to impact" Japan, given that the superhigh tariffs were de facto trade bans, chief tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said.

Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said he "basically welcomes" the U.S.-China deal. A government source said that the move helped prevent the world from turning "excessively into bloc economies."

But the agreement caught Tokyo by surprise. It was the second time that U.S. President Donald Trump's administration closed a trade deal before striking one with Japan.

"(The Trump administration) had said that Japan was of utmost priority, but it has made an agreement with China, its biggest competitor," a source close to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said. "Akazawa is in a tight corner."

A senior Foreign Ministry official said that Japan could not capitalize on the U.S.-China trade standoff, while an executive from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party expressed shock over the deal, saying, "Japan must hurry."

Tokyo is trying to strike a deal at a meeting between the two countries' leaders on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Canada next month. But the two sides have yet to narrow their differences over areas such as the automotive industry.

Ishiba still seeks full removal of Trump's tariff measures against Japan. He has called for prioritizing content over speed, saying, "We will not make an unreasonable concession on the grounds that a deadline is approaching."

"We must not be impatient," Tetsuo Saito, leader of the junior ruling party Komeito, told a meeting of government and ruling bloc officials Tuesday. "What's important is to win substance that serves national interests."

"We hope the government will proceed with negotiations in a calm and resolute way," LDP Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama said.
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