An announcement for a US-Japan trade agreement could be made in August, said the United States president Donald Trump which is an indication that he would want to push Japan for the trade deal well before the six month period that he had mentioned last month.

However according to reports quoting a senior official in Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration, there has not been any agreement on the date of a possible US-Japan trade agreement in the summit meetings between the two leaders in Tokyo on Monday. Earlier, Trump had threatened to increase import tariffs on Japanese cars and auto parts worth about $50 billion that are exported every year to the US.

Trump had earlier faced criticisms in Japan for the trade surplus of US over Japan and according to analysts, Trump is seeking to make greater inroads for American companies in the Japanese economy which is the third largest market for American farmers. Trump told reporters “a lot of very positive things are happening on trade”, before formal discussions with Abe in Tokyo.

“Trade-wise, I think we will be announcing some things probably in August that will be very good for both countries,” Trump said. “We have to do a little catching up with Japan because they’ve been doing much more business with us. We’d like to do a little more business in the reverse.”

There had been “absolutely no” agreement on arriving at a trade agreement between Japan and the US by August, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasutoshi Nishimura, who was present for the summit, told reporters later.

Emperor Naruhito, who ascended the Chrysanthemum throne on May 1, was also visited by Trump thereby becoming the first foreign head of state to meet the new Emperor.

Analysts say that Japan wants to avoid being imposed with costly tariffs by staying in the good books of Trump and to maintain good relations with Washington which is critical for the security of Japan against likes of its neighbors China and North Korea.

Trump had agreed to further accelerate talks, Abe told a press conference earlier. He said that Trump wanted to achieve a win-win result fast. Abe had said that the discussions with Trump would be based on the joint statement issued by the two countries last September according to which it would not be mandatory for Japan to open up its farm markets to the US than what already exists according to the existing trade agreement between the countries.

The contribution of the Japanese companies in the US economy was also stressed by Abe and said that those contributions were more than done by any other country.

Contentious issues such as US threats to restrict Japanese car exports and apply a currency clause were not discussed with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, said Japan Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi after almost three hours of talks in Tokyo on Saturday.

(Adapted from Fin24.com)

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