By Makiko Yamazaki
March 6 (Reuters) – Japan has sought assurances from the U.S. that Tokyo will not be put at a disadvantage under Washington’s latest tariff measures, urging that a potential 15% tariff not be applied to Japanese goods, its trade minister said on Friday.
Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Ryosei Akazawa said he made the request during a two-hour meeting in Washington with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Akazawa briefed reporters after the meeting.
After the U.S. Supreme Court knocked down some of President Donald Trump’s key tariffs in February, the U.S. imposed a new 10% blanket levy that could rise to 15%, generating new global uncertainty about the trade deals struck last year and the tariff rates importers now face.
Akazawa said both governments reaffirmed their commitment to last year’s trade deal, which formalised a baseline 15% tariff on nearly all Japanese imports, down from 27.5% on autos and initially threatened 25% on most other goods.
“We requested that Japan’s treatment under the new tariff rules would not become less favorable than what was agreed last year,” Akazawa said, noting that Trump’s new blanket levy could otherwise raise costs for certain Japanese export items.
He declined to say how the U.S. side responded.
Akazawa added that he and Lutnick also discussed a series of projects under Japan’s $550-billion U.S. investment pledge, as well as cooperation on energy and critical minerals, ahead of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s visit to Washington on March 19.
Reuters has previously reported that Japan and the United States are working to include a nuclear power project involving Westinghouse in the second round of deals under the investment commitments Tokyo made as part of a U.S. tariff agreement.
Last month, they announced the first round of three projects worth a combined $36 billion, covering offshore drilling, natural gas production and synthetic diamonds.
The U.S. Commerce Department said on X that Lutnick and Akazawa met for talks on strengthening economic ties following last month’s investment agreement, with no mention of tariff treatment.
(Reporting by Ryan Patrick Jones, Susan Heavey and Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
