Japan considering soybean, rice concessions in US tariff talks, Yomiuri reports

Reuters

Fri, Apr 18, 2025, 9:27 PM 2 min read

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is considering expanding its soybean and atom imports arsenic a concession successful commercialized negotiations with the U.S. implicit President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs, Japan's Yomiuri regular reported connected Saturday.

With Trump's commercialized violative roiling markets and stoking recession fears, Japan is seeking to locomotion backmost his "reciprocal" tariffs and different duties imposed connected Japan, on with dozens of countries.

In their archetypal circular of bilateral talks connected Wednesday, U.S. negotiators brought up automobiles and atom arsenic areas wherever they said Tokyo puts up marketplace barriers, and they demanded that Japan import much meat, food products and potatoes, the paper said, without citing the sources for its information.

Japan's Cabinet Office could not instantly beryllium reached for comment.

Those commercialized barriers are cited successful an yearly study by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Japanese media highlighted a White House photograph of the 400-page study connected the array astatine the talks successful Washington.

Trump unexpectedly brought Japan's pb negotiator, Economic Revitalisation Minister Ryosei Akazawa, into the Oval Office and touted "big progress" aft the talks, though fewer specifics person been disclosed. Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato is expected to resume the bilateral talks with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent connected the sidelines of planetary meetings adjacent week successful Washington.

Japan has been deed with 24% levies connected its exports to the U.S. though these rates have, similar astir of Trump's tariffs, been paused for 90 days. A 10% cosmopolitan complaint remains successful place, arsenic does a 25% work connected cars, a mainstay of Japan's export-reliant economy.

Akazawa asked the U.S. squad to convey their priorities successful bid of importance, the Yomiuri said.

Trump has lambasted Japan for what helium said was a 700% tariff connected atom - a fig Japan says is based connected outdated planetary atom prices.

It remains to beryllium seen whether Trump's Republican medication would absorption connected rice, arsenic exports to Japan travel from California, a Democratic-leaning state.

Even earlier Trump's tariffs, Japan had been expanding its imports of staple atom successful the past twelvemonth arsenic home prices person skyrocketed owed to a proviso shortage.

(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by William Mallard)