Tariff negotiations between Japan and the United States quickly went from fast track and MAGA hat photo ops in the Oval Office to a long game with no end in sight, one that some academics and economic observers see possibly devolving into an unpleasant and unproductive stalemate.
To a certain extent, it all went south when Tokyo realized that the two sides were talking around each other.
Japan wants to negotiate the end to all the new tariffs put into place by U.S. President Donald Trump, including a 10% baseline tariff and a 25% rate on cars, car parts, steel and aluminum. The United States has signaled that it first wants to discuss the higher "reciprocal" tariff — 24% for Japan — and get concessions in exchange for not making that rate effective in July.
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