Japan’s Prime Minister, Shigeru Ishiba, has said he will travel to the United States at the earliest to negotiate a comprehensive trade deal with US President Donald Trump. Speaking in Japanese Parliament on Monday, Ishiba said he would first hold a phone call with President Trump, urging him to withdraw the proposed 24% tariff on Japanese imports.
Steps To Protect Japanese Economy
However, Ishiba also cautioned Japan’s lawmakers that results won't come 'overnight'. Therefore, he also proposed a bunch of measure to “cushion the economic blow” of the US reciprocal tariffs announced on April 2. Ishiba told the parliament these measures could include offering funding support for Japanese companies, as well as steps to protect jobs.
Nikkei Tanks
The remarks from Japan’s Prime Minister come on a day when Japanese stock markets have crashed reacting to the tit-for-tat tariffs announced by the US. The Nikkei had tanked almost 7% by the time of writing this article. Earlier during the session, trading was halted in Japanese Futures after the market hit the lower circuit.
Trump “Ready To Discuss Deficit’
US President Donald Trump has said that he was willing to discuss the United States’ trade deficit with some of its partners. However, Trump would do so only if other nations come to the negotiating table. Speaking to reporters aboard US Air Force One Trump said, “I do want to solve the deficit problem that we have with China, with the European Union, and other nations, and they are going to have to do that. If they want to talk about that, I'm open to talking. But otherwise, why would I want to talk.”
Trump Slams Joe Biden
He also went on to claim that the US economy was already benefiting from his actions, while slamming his predecessor Joe Biden again, and added, “as you know, because of the tariffs we have $7 trillion already committed to be invested in the United States, building auto plants, building chip companies, all sorts of companies are coming into our country, at levels we have never seen before. Biden had nothing coming in. This was a dead… this was a dead country with Biden. He didn’t know what he was doing.”
