Japan is considering using the buying of American defense products as leverage in trade talks, Tokyo’s top tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, said on May 29.
Akazawa, Tokyo’s economic revitalization minister, is bound for the United States for the fourth round of negotiations between Tokyo and Washington on May 30.
Other items on the table will include cooperation in shipbuilding, revisions to inspection standards for imported vehicles, and increased imports of American farm products, as Japan seeks concessions from the tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
“If defense equipment purchases and the like are included (in the trade balance), the United States will in effect accumulate a trade surplus. I think it could come into the picture (for negotiations),” Akazawa told reporters, according to Japanese news agency JIJI.com….
Japan’s Trade Envoy May Leverage US Defense Purchases in Tariff Talks
