Tag - us-japan-relations

 
 

US JAPAN RELATIONS

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks about U.S. tariffs in Tokyo last week.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 25, 2025
Japan doubles down on stimulus to counter effects of Trump tariffs
The government will implement measures that build on ones announced earlier with the aim of boosting domestic spending and shoring up corporate balance sheets.
Economic Revitalization Minister Ryosei Akazawa is leading Japan's negotiations to forge a trade deal with the U.S. Carefully contemplated and measured retaliatory levies are one of the tools at the tariff czar's disposal.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Apr 25, 2025
Japan needs clarity as an antidote to contradictory tariffs
With incompatible goals and an erratic timeline, Trump's tariff strategy has more holes than Swiss cheese. In response, Japan should bring a strong, coherent strategy to the table.
U.S. President Donald Trump has touted the $44 billion Alaska liquefied natural gas project, which would deliver gas from the state's North Slope fields via a 1,300 kilometer pipeline for domestic use and send it to customers in Asia as LNG, bypassing the Panama Canal.
WORLD
Apr 25, 2025
U.S. expected to press Japan and South Korea for support of Alaska LNG project
The $44 billion Alaska liquefied natural gas project would send gas to customers in Asia as LNG, bypassing the Panama Canal.
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 25, 2025
No discussion of yen target, Kato says after Bessent meeting
The two countries possibly committing to a specific number in terms of the yen-dollar exchange rate has helped drive up the value of the Japanese currency.
Toyota Motor’s sales rose 8% from a year earlier to 231,336 units, while Honda Motor recorded a 13% jump, according to data released Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 24, 2025
Japanese carmakers’ U.S. sales surge ahead of Trump tariffs
Toyota Motor’s sales rose 8% from a year earlier to 231,336 units, while Honda Motor recorded a 13% jump, according to data released Thursday.
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato is is expected to meet with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 24, 2025
U.S. indicates no hard target for yen ahead of key trade talks
The United States has argued that the yen is too weak, making its value against the dollar a top agenda item in trade discussions.
Okinawa Prefectural Police Headquarters in the city of Naha. Police have sent prosecutors papers on two U.S. Marines suspected of sexually assaulting women in the prefecture.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 24, 2025
U.S. Marines suspected of sexually assaulting women in Okinawa
One of the two is suspected of sexually assaulting an acquaintance in January, and the other of sexually assaulting a woman and injuring another at a military base in March.
Economic Revitalization Minister Ryosei Akazawa last week at Haneda Airport. The chief tariff negotiator believes the gap between the United States and Japan on trade issues remains wide.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 23, 2025
Mood shifts to measured optimism in U.S.-Japan trade dispute
Japan has so far engaged in a charm offensive aimed at staying onside while politely poking holes in the president's arguments and expectations.
A restaurant owner pours California-grown Calrose rice into a rice cooker at his restaurant in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 23, 2025
Japan weighs using U.S. rice imports as tariff negotiation tool with Trump
The government hopes an import quota will give them more cards to play in tariff negotiations with the U.S.
Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, poses with a "Make America Great Again" cap at the White House in Washington on April 16.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 23, 2025
Japan wants to 'separate' tariff and security issues. That may be tough.
Disentangling the two will prove a challenge as U.S. President Donald Trump continues to voice long-held complaints about the alliance’s fairness.
Nomura Holdings is seeking to build scale in the U.S. asset management market despite recent volatility caused by escalating trade tensions.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 23, 2025
Nomura bets big on U.S. market rebound with $1.8 billion deal
Nomura's executive officer said the latest disruptions don’t change the fact the U.S. remains the largest asset management market in the world.
Japan has walked a delicate path — taking steps to hedge its dependence on China while distancing itself from the politics of Washington.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 23, 2025
Trump’s trade war with China puts Japan in a tight spot
Japan had long maintained deep economic ties with both China and the United States. Recent trade tensions may challenge that approach.
Japan has started discussing specific measures to expand liquefied natural gas imports from the United States to reduce its trade surplus, as demanded by Washington.
BUSINESS
Apr 23, 2025
Japan mulls expanding imports of LNG from the U.S. for tariff negotiations
In 2024, Japan imported ¥542.6 billion of LNG from the U.S.
Former Foreign Minister Taro Kono
BUSINESS
Apr 23, 2025
Japan must correct Trump’s false data for trade talks, says Kono
Kono said matters related to regional security shouldn’t be discussed as part of the trade talks, nor should the question of how best to manage relationships with China.
The United Steelworkers union headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 23, 2025
Union tells Bessent risks of Nippon Steel deal are too great
The United Steelworkers said the risks cannot be overcome in any scenario in which Nippon Steel exercises influence over U.S. Steel’s decision-making.
U.S. Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent says a de-escalation between the U.S. and China will come in the very near future.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 23, 2025
Bessent expects tariff standoff with China to deescalate
The U.S. Treasury secretary is optimistic that tensions could cool in the coming months but cautioned that a larger deal could take longer.
The yen strengthened dramatically this month — hitting ¥139.9 to the dollar on Tuesday — and could become a topic of conversation in trade talks between the United States and Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Apr 22, 2025
Yen on the march as Plaza Accord 2.0 debate grows
The U.S. has claimed that Japan's currency is undervalued, with some in the administration of President Donald Trump calling for a Plaza Accord 2.0.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (right) meets with new U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 22, 2025
Ishiba meets with new U.S. envoy to Japan
The new U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass arrived in Tokyo last week.
Takeshi Niinami, chairman and CEO of Suntory, says U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs are "really killing the appetite from the world” for investment in the U.S.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 22, 2025
Trump tariffs are killing investment appetite, Suntory CEO says
President Trump’s efforts to reshape international trade have led to wild swings in global markets and raised concerns the U.S. economy could enter a recession.
MS&AD forecasts that net profit for its North American operations will reach ¥166 billion in the fiscal year ended in March, a 3.5fold increase from the previous fiscal year.
BUSINESS
Apr 22, 2025
Insurer MS&AD plans to invest $5 billion to double U.S. profits
The Tokyo-based casualty insurer has the highest market share in Asia among global firms, but it’s No. 3 among Japanese peers in North America.

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Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.