Trump’s red carpet visit gives Japan brief reprieve on trade, pressure stays

Wednesday, 29 May 2019 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Tokyo (Reuters): Japan rolled out the red carpet for US President Donald Trump this week, winning Tokyo a brief respite in its trade battle with Washington, but Prime Minister Shinzo Abe faces pressure to deliver concessions after a summer election.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Akasaka Palace state guest house in Tokyo, Japan, May 27, 2019 - Reuters

Trump on Tuesday wound up a four-day state visit featuring golf, sumo, a state dinner with Emperor Naruhito and inspections of US and Japanese warships meant to showcase the alliance, but shadowed by a feud over the two-way trade gap.

After his Monday summit with Abe, Trump had said he expected the allies to be “announcing some things, probably in August, that will be very good for both countries” on trade.

On Tuesday, however, Japanese Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said the US leader’s comment probably reflected his hope for quick progress in the trade talks.

“When you look at the exact wording of his comments, you can see that the president was voicing his hopes of swift progress in talks toward something that is mutually beneficial,” Motegi told reporters at a regular cabinet meeting.

Concessions on trade before an upper house election in July could upset Japanese voters, especially farmers, who are important backers of Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party, although consumers might welcome cheaper food products.

Japanese officials have denied that the two countries had agreed to reach a trade deal by August.

Opposition parties said Japanese farmers would be in the line of fire after the poll, adding that Trump had said “agriculture and beef were heavily in play” on Twitter on Sunday.

“Trump’s comments can only be taken to mean that Japan has in fact made major concessions on agriculture and livestock,” Yukio Edano, head of the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ) told a news conference this week.

“We cannot allow them to fight the upper house election by hiding this,” Japanese media quoted Edano as saying.