BENGALURU/TOKYO- Japan’s Trade Minister Yoji Muto plans to visit the US in March and will seek exemptions from Trump administration plans to set import tariffs on steel and cars, the Asahi newspaper reported on Thursday.
Muto is arranging meetings with newly confirmed US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and other top officials also to discuss plans to buy more American natural gas and Nippon Steel’s 5401.Tstranded bid to acquire US Steel according to the report.
Japan has asked the US to exempt it from steel and aluminum tariffs, Muto said last week.
Muto aims to visit the US by March 12, when the 25 percent tariffs on US imports of steel and aluminum are due to take effect, but the schedule is fluid depending on Japanese parliament budget sessions, Asahi reported, citing multiple unnamed government sources.
After US President Donald Trump’s remarks to put 25 percent tariffs on car imports from April, officials said Tokyo has impressed upon Washington how important the car industry is to Japan’s economy.
Carmakers such as Toyota Honda and Nissan and their suppliers employ more than 5 million people in Japan, representing some 8 percent of the country’s workforce, according to a trade group.
The transport machinery sector, including cars, produces about 3 percent of Japan’s GDP, the government said in a Wednesday report, highlighting the potential impact of tariffs.
Nearly 90 percent of Japanese firms see Trump’s policies as harmful to their business environment, a Reuters survey of major Japanese companies found.
The results of the survey show how the prospect of higher tariffs and increased trade friction between the United States and China has clouded the outlook for companies in the world’s fourth-largest economy.
Japan, a firm U.S. ally, is also deeply reliant on China as both a manufacturing base and a key market for its machinery and other exports.
About 86 percent of respondents said Trump’s policy measures would have an adverse or somewhat adverse effect on their business environment, with the remainder expecting a positive or somewhat positive impact.
In the same monthly survey in December, 73 percent said Trump’s second term in the White House would be harmful to their business environment. Trump officially took office last month.
Among the firms that regarded Trump’s policy initiatives as negative, 72 percent picked his trade strategy – including imposing more tariffs – as the most detrimental factor, and 26 percent chose deepening friction between the United States and China.
“Ratcheting up protectionism has nothing but a negative effect on the global economy,” a manager at an information services firm wrote in the survey.
Among the firms that saw Trump’s policy measures as positive, 37 percent picked deregulation and tax cuts as the most beneficial factor, while another 37 percent chose his policy to help boost fossil fuel production.
