No deal on Japan’s exemption from US tariffs

Japanese Trade Minister Yoji Muto, who was on a visit to Washington, could not acquire tariff exemption from officials on the tariffs US President Donald Trump plans to impose on steel, automobiles and other imports, according to media reports.

After meeting with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick separately, Muto said that he understood their perspective on the importance of Japan to the US economy and that Tokyo will continue to aim to protect Japanese companies from the Trump administration's tariffs, the Kyodo news agency reported on Tuesday.

"Based on the latest discussions, we will be in close consultation on how we can make the national interests of Japan and the United States a win-win situation," he said at a news conference.

Muto also reportedly met with head of the White House National Economic Council Kevin Hassett.

The minister said he and the US officials agreed upon cooperating closely toward strengthening bilateral economic ties even though a tariff exemption could not be gained. Muto said that he underscored the significant and continuous Japanese investments in the US.

While not giving details he also said that bilateral energy cooperation, such as the development of liquefied natural gas in Alaska, was discussed between the two sides.

About Nippon Steel Corp's $14.1 billion bid to take over United States Steel Corp. being blocked, Muto said: "I will refrain from going into details of the discussion, but I believe that the concerned private-sector parties will advance their coordination on a specific plan."

Trump had said that tariffs of around 25% on imported cars will likely be imposed on April 2. Japan currently is levied 2.5% for cars.

According to official Japanese data, some 1.37 million vehicles were shipped to the US, accounting for 28.3% of its total exports to the world's largest economy in terms of value.