According to local media on Thursday, Japan’s trade minister is planning a trip to the US in the upcoming weeks to ask for exemptions from President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Trump approved a new set of import levies last month, which go into effect on March 12, and declared that he was “simplifying our tariffs on steel and aluminum.”
“It’s 25 percent without exceptions or exemptions,” he said in the Oval Office at the time.
According to Kyodo News, which cited an unidentified government source, Economy, Trade, and Industry Minister Yoji Muto is hoping to travel to the United States before March 12.
Citing government sources, the Asahi daily also reported that the visit was being planned.
Additionally, Trump has threatened to put duties “in the neighbourhood of 25 percent” on auto imports and at least that amount on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.
According to Kyodo, Muto was scheduled to meet with Howard Lutnick, the newly appointed commerce secretary, and other US officials.
When AFP called the commerce ministry, it stated that no formal notification had been made.
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