(Bloomberg) -- Japan’s chief trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa held two phone meetings with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to discuss tariffs as a July 9 deadline for higher levies nears.
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Akazawa and Lutnick talked for 45 minutes on Thursday and for about an hour on Saturday, reaffirmed their respective positions on the US tariffs and “had an in depth exchange of views,” according to a statement by Japan’s Cabinet Secretariat. The two sides will continue to coordinate, the statement read.
The phone calls took place as a 10% across-the-board levy on Japan’s shipments to the US is set to revert back to 24% on July 9 barring a deal. Akazawa has traveled to the US seven times to hold talks with US counterparts including Lutnick, but previous talks have yielded little results.
US President Donald Trump said he signed 12 letters that will go out Monday to inform trading partners of the new US tariff rates on their exports. He didn’t specify which nations will receive the letters.
In addition to the broader tariffs, as with other nations, Japan is also subject to a 25% levy on cars and auto parts and a 50% tariff on steel and aluminum. The duties are already weighing on Japan’s economy, with the auto levy dealing a direct blow to the nation’s most important export.
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