Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said Tokyo intends to pick up trade talks with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump with an understanding that the elimination of tariffs on cars and auto parts will be on the agenda.
The understanding was made five years ago during Trump’s first term, according to Iwaya, as the two nations struck a trade deal that gave U.S. farmers greater access to the Japanese market while Tokyo was able to dodge extra tariffs on its auto exports to the United States.
"In the annex of the Japan-U.S. Trade Agreement, the U.S. side has included automobiles and automobile parts in the list of items for which further negotiations on tariff elimination will be held," Iwaya said in parliament on Friday. "Negotiations will be held on the assumption that tariffs will be eliminated."
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