‘Big Progress!’: World watches as US, Japan kick off tariff negotiations

The US and Japan kicked off tariff negotiations on Wednesday (local time). Japan’s top negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, reportedly met with Trump before holding trade talks with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

Sharing an update about the meeting, US President Donald Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, “A Great Honor to have just met with the Japanese Delegation on Trade. Big Progress!”

Second round of talks soon?

The two sides aimed to reach a deal as soon as possible, Akazawa was quoted by Bloomberg as saying. They, however, did not discuss currency issues, the Japanese official added.

"The talks did not result in an immediate halt on the tariffs, but preparations are underway for the second round of talks to take place later this month," Akazawa said in Washington Wednesday.

Military talks, 'no discussion on currencies'

According to Bloomberg, Trump had suggested that the topic of military support would be part of the talks.

But neither the Japanese nor US delegations shared details of what exactly had been discussed and what areas were on the negotiating table.

Japanese official Akazawa also declined to comment on whether topics such as security issues, auto tariffs, and agricultural trade had been discussed.

“There was no discussion on currencies,” Akazawa added.

Trump tariffs

Japan is among the first nations to have started formal negotiations with the US amid the tariff war.

Many nations across the world closely watch the developments to ascertain how the talks progress and come to a conclusion.

It is seen as a test case for how to proceed in negotiations with the Trump administration.

Trump imposed a series of tariffs — ranging from 10 per cent to over 100 per cent — on goods imported from other countries that are trade partners with the US.

He also imposed so-called reciprocal tariffs on US trading partners before abruptly putting a 90-day hold on that levy shortly after it came into effect.

Despite Tokyo’s repeated pleas for an exemption, Trump has already slapped a 25 per cent tariff on steel, aluminium and cars.

Japan was initially hit with a 24 per cent levy before the reprieve, although a 10% baseline tariff remains in place.