Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may have won some respite from U.S. pressure on trade for now, but analysts expect President Donald Trump to push Japan in a few months into making concessions on agriculture and automobiles as he looks for a major win to bolster his 2020 re-election bid.
In official and informal talks Sunday and Monday during a state visit to Japan, Trump indicated Washington would not press Tokyo for a bilateral trade deal until after the Upper House elections in July — apparently taking into consideration Abe's desire to avoid pressure to cut tariffs, which may affect farmers.
Trump, however, still complained about the "tremendous" trade imbalance between the two countries and said there would be some announcements regarding bilateral trade "probably in August."