Trump Stirs Concerns of Return to Japan-U.S. Trade Friction

Tokyo, Nov. 6 (Jiji Press)--Visiting U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday sparked concerns of a return to trade friction between the United States and Japan, expressing his frustration over his country's chronic trade deficit with the Asian country. "We seek equal and reliable access for American exports to Japan's markets in order to eliminate our chronic trade imbalances and deficits with Japan," Trump said at a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe following their talks in Tokyo. The remark appeared to be a surprise for many on the Japanese side, who had been optimistic about the Abe-Trump summit's coverage of bilateral trade issues. Before the summit, a senior economy official said, "We have no worry" about trade issues. The Japanese and U.S. governments will continue talks on bilateral trade in a new economic dialogue scheme launched earlier this year. "The next session must be tough," a Japanese government source said. The United States' trade deficit with Japan came to about 68.8 billion dollars in 2016, the second-largest figure after the China total of 347 billion dollars. Ahead of the U.S. midterm election next year, Trump is viewed as likely to increase pressure on Japan to further liberalize its markets, including those of automotive-related products, a sector that accounts for three-quarters of the U.S. deficit with Japan. Trump is also expected to urge Japan to boost imports of U.S. agricultural goods, with many U.S. farmers supporting the Republicans. Also at the joint press conference, the president expressed his administration's eagerness to launch bilateral free trade talks with Japan, after the United States withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement this year. Trump said in a speech earlier on Monday, "We'll have more trade than anybody ever thought of under the TPP." His administration is now focusing on renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, as well as on the U.S.-South Korea free trade pact, while reviewing trade relations with China. A former senior U.S. government official said the Trump administration cannot spare much time for trade issues with Japan at the moment. But a Japanese government source predicted, "The next target will be Japan." Trade friction between Japan and the United States has spiked from time to time since the 1950s, when Japan's economy was getting on a recovery path following the end of World War II. At the center of trade rows were textile goods in the late 1960s, and steel products, televisions and other home appliances, and automobiles in the 1970s and 1980s. Japan agreed to voluntarily restrict exports of these items. After the United States' trade deficit with Japan started to rise rapidly in the late 1970s, the U.S. government started to demand the liberalization of Japanese markets. For U.S. beef and oranges, Japan eventually agreed to remove import quotas, after more than 10 years of negotiations from 1977. END