US President Donald Trump on Wednesday inserted himself directly into trade talks with Japanese officials, a sign of the high stakes for the United States after its tariffs rattled the economy and caused the administration to assure the public that it would quickly reach deals.
Advertisement
The Republican president said in a post on his social media platform that he will attend the meeting alongside US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, top economic advisers with a central role in his trade and tariff policies.
“Hopefully something can be worked out which is good (GREAT!) for Japan and the USA!” Trump wrote in the social media post.
The president’s choice to get directly involved in negotiations points to his desire to quickly finalise a slew of trade agreements as China is pursuing its own set of agreements. It is an open test of Trump’s reputation as a deal maker as countries around the world seek to limit the potential damage unleashed by his import taxes.
The sweeping tariffs that Trump announced on April 2 triggered panic in the financial markets and generated recession fears, causing the US president to quickly put a partial 90-day hold on the import taxes and increase his already steep tariffs against China to as much as 145 per cent.
Advertisement
The pause temporarily spared Japan from 24 per cent across-the-board tariffs, but there continues to be a 10 per cent baseline tariff and a 25 per cent tax on imported cars, vehicle parts, steel and aluminium exports.