Japan and the United States will hold the first round of new ministerial trade talks Thursday in Washington, with the host likely to push Tokyo to further open its automobile and agriculture markets to reduce the chronic U.S. trade deficit.
The talks come as U.S. President Donald Trump threatens to impose additional tariffs of up to 25 percent on imported cars and parts. If he follows through, the new duties would significantly impact major car exporters such as Japan.
During the talks, which are expected to run through Friday, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is likely to press Toshimitsu Motegi, the economic revitalization minister, to reduce Japanese tariffs on agricultural imports such as beef and soybeans, and remove nontariff barriers on automobile imports, to extract concessions ahead of the U.S. midterm elections in November.