US and Japan pledge quick resolution on difficult tariff talks

U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged to seek a swift resolution to continuing talks over trade and tariffs while pushing back on China’s efforts to “change the status quo” in the East and South China Seas.  

In a 90-minute video call on Friday, the two allies also agreed to create a new high-level forum to help guide economic relations between their nations. Biden also accepted Kishida’s invitation to visit Japan, likely in the spring during a meeting of the so-called Quad bloc of nations, according to a U.S. official who briefed reporters after the call. 

Facing shared threats from China and North Korea, the two leaders agreed that the U.S.-Japan alliance “has never been stronger or more necessary,” the White House said in a readout of the call. 

Despite the bonhomie, the promise of a “swift” resolution to trade issues signals the leaders were unable to agree yet over whether to ease or eliminate tariffs imposed by the U.S., under the Trump administration in 2018, on Japanese steel and aluminum imports. The so-called Section 232 tariffs were applied on national security grounds and have been a thorn in otherwise close ties. 

Beyond economic relations and security issues—including a condemnation of North Korea’s recent missile launches—China’s actions in the region were a key focus of discussion, according to a White House statement. 

South China Sea

“The two leaders resolved to push back against the People’s Republic of China’s attempts to change the status quo in the East China Sea and South China Sea; underscored the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues; they shared concern about PRC practices in Xinjiang and Hong Kong,” according to the statement. 

In addition, a joint statement this week on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons called on Beijing to “reduce nuclear risks, increase transparency, and advance nuclear disarmament.”

Biden also won support for U.S. actions over the standoff on Ukraine’s border. Ahead of the talks, a senior administration official said Biden wanted to discuss a “strong, united response that would result from further Russian aggression toward Ukraine.” 

While there was no specific pledge for Japan to join in on economic sanctions in the event of a Russian invasion, Japan indicated they are closely aligned with the U.S., the U.S. official said.

The virtual format of the meeting is unprecedented for Japan, whose leaders have pressed for in-person summits with their U.S. counterparts even during the pandemic. 

Japan agreed to hold the summit by video due to the “significance of having an early meeting to enable the leaders to deepen trust,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters this week. 

Kishida’s predecessor, Yoshihide Suga, was the first foreign leader to hold a summit with Biden at the White House after he took office in 2021. By contrast, since becoming premier, Kishida has met Biden face-to-face only briefly on the sidelines of the COP-26 summit in Scotland last year.

“I want to make this an opportunity to show the world the unwavering ties between Japan and the U.S., and to take the alliance to a new level,” Kishida told parliament Thursday.