Japanese and U.S. business leaders issued a joint statement Friday demanding that their governments "secure transparency and predictability of international trade and investment."
The statement, adopted by the members of the Japan-U.S. and U.S.-Japan Business Councils at their two-day joint meeting in Tokyo, which began Thursday, comes as U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policy is adding to global economic uncertainties.
Both governments should "reaffirm" their support for foreign direct investment between Japan and the United States while "ensuring investment screening measures are narrowly tailored to national security concerns," the statement added.
The leaders from more than 120 major companies also underscored the importance of the public and private sectors collaborating in "transparent, accountable, and risk-aware" artificial intelligence development and requested visa facilitation for business trips by experts.
"We have a sense of danger over the unpredictable situation," Japan-U.S. Business Council Chair Jun Sawada, also chairman of NTT, told a press conference after the meeting. "I want both governments to make efforts to eliminate uncertainty as much as possible."
David Goeckeler, head of the U.S. council and chairman and CEO of U.S. flash memory-maker Sandisk, said, "It's very important that we have a point of view" on political measures. He then voiced intention to ask the U.S. government for improvements in the investment environment.
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