“After failing to cut a trade deal with Japan following weeks of talks, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer decided to turn up the pressure,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“When Japanese officials arrived in Washington in late May, Lutnick and Greer warned them that if the two sides couldn’t work out an agreement soon, the conversations might start shifting from easing the tariffs President Trump had recently imposed toward additional punitive measures, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Americans said they might demand a cap on the number of vehicles Japan could export to the U.S.—a policy known as a voluntary export restriction.”“But the Japanese officials stood their ground. From the start, they had told the Americans they wouldn’t agree to any deal that preserves Trump’s 25% automotive tariff, according to people familiar with the conversations. That impasse continues.”
Reuters: Japan invokes national interest as tariff talks with US struggle.