“We had a very detailed exchange and explored the possibility of a trade agreement,” Akazawa told reporters after he met with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick separately in Washington in a sixth round of tariff negotiations.
It is likely to be the last round before Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and US President Donald Trump are to meet in Canada on the sidelines of the Group of Seven leaders’ summit, where Japan has been hoping to clinch a deal.
Akazawa refrained from commenting on whether the talks have matured enough to reach an agreement, saying a deal is possible only when the leaders of both countries approve everything as a package.
He also declined to comment on the chance of Ishiba and Trump reaching an agreement at their upcoming meeting.
Japan faces a 24 percent tariff rate starting in July unless it can negotiate a deal with the US. It is also scrambling to find ways to get Washington to exempt its automakers from 25 percent tariffs on automobiles, Japan’s biggest industry. (AFP)
