Trump ‘Hopes to Announce a Trade Deal With Japan Soon’

By Staff, Agencies

Speaking at a press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, US President Donald Trump said he hoped to announce a trade deal with Japan very soon.

During his four-day state visit, Trump said his goal was to remove trade barriers so as to give US exports a fair footing in Japan.

During Trump’s comments, the Nikkei stock market in Japan kept its gains as traders interpreted a largely positive atmosphere between the two men.

Trump described the US’ trade imbalance with Japan as “unbelievably large” but he hoped to address that.

“They are brilliant business people, brilliant negotiators and have put us in a tough spot but I think we will have a deal with Japan,” said Trump.

Abe, for his part, said the two leaders had agreed to accelerate two-way trade talks.

Trump earlier explicitly linked trade and security, a connection that disturbs Japan, which puts its US alliance at the core of its defense policies.

“It’s all a balance sheet thing,” Trump said at the beginning of his talks with Abe.

“When I talk about a security threat, I talk about a balance sheet,” he said, adding that Japan had bought “tremendous amounts” of US military gear.

On Sunday, Trump tweeted that he expected big moves on trade would wait until after Japan’s upper house election in July.

“Trade-wise, I think we’ll be announcing some things, probably in August, that will be very good for both countries,” Trump said on Monday. “We’ll get the balance of trade, I think, straightened out rapidly.”