The first round of the ministerial trade talks between Japan and the United States, held over two days in Washington last week, ended without much progress as both sides stuck to their respective positions. The U.S. administration of President Donald Trump reportedly pressed Japan to enter bilateral negotiations with a possible free trade deal in mind. Meanwhile, Tokyo emphasized the importance of a multilateral free trade regime and urged Washington to return to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which the Trump administration withdrew from last year.

The U.S. attempts to win concessions from its trading partners in bilateral talks by taking advantage of its position of power over them run counter to the principles of the free trade system that is based on multilateral rules. Tokyo should not deviate from its commitment to multilateral free trade arrangements as it seeks to reduce simmering bilateral trade frictions with the U.S.

While launching the ministerial trade dialogue with Japan, the Trump administration has also been weighing the imposition of stiff tariffs on the imports of automobile and automotive parts on "national security" grounds — on top of the additional tariffs that it introduced on steel and aluminum imports earlier this year. Economy revitalization minister Toshimitsu Motegi, who is representing Tokyo in the talks, is believed to have urged U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to remove Japan from the potential target list of the automotive tariffs, but was apparently not given a clear answer. There's a chance that the automotive import curbs could be launched by the Trump administration — which is bent on reducing the U.S. trade deficit — before the U.S. midterm elections in November.