Trump urges fairer trade with Japan at start of state visit

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01:10

U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to make the U.S. trade relationship with Japan a "little bit more fair," as he kicked off a four-day visit to Tokyo on Saturday.

Trump chided Japan for having a "substantial edge" on trade that negotiators were trying to even out in a bilateral deal, as he met business executives from Toyota, Nissan, Honda, SoftBank and Rakuten. He also told the company officials there had never been a better time to invest in the United States.

Trade disputes

The disputes between Japan and the U.S. are longstanding. After Washington withdrew from the original Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in 2017, the two countries are currently negotiating a bilateral trade deal.

"With this deal, we hope to address the trade imbalance, remove the barriers to United States exports and ensure fairness and reciprocity in our relationship. We're getting close," said Trump.

A worker assembles a Toyota on the production line of the company's Motomachi factory, July 30, 2018. /VCG Photo

Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe signed a deal with the EU in 2018, which left U.S. farmers at risk of losing market share to rivals with lower tariffs.

The U.S. trade deficit with Japan was 6.5 trillion yen (58 billion U.S. dollars) in 2018, according to Japan's Finance Ministry. Autos and auto parts make up the biggest portion of that deficit.

The U.S. currently imposes tariffs of 2.5 percent on passenger cars, 25 percent on trucks, and 2.4 percent on large motorcycles on Japan. But the Trump administration threat to raise tariffs by up to 25 percent on national security grounds.

Trump said on May 17 that he would delay tariffs on auto imports from Japan and the European Union by up to 180 days.

Japan announced on the same day to eliminate restrictions on U.S. beef exports. The move allows all cattle, regardless of age, to enter Japan for the first time since 2003. The U.S. Meat Export Federation estimates that expanded access could increase U.S. beef sales to Japan by 150 million U.S. dollars to 200 million U.S. dollars annually.

(with inputs from Reuters, AFP)