The U.S. and Japan have agreed in principle on a trade deal that will include Japanese purchases of U.S. agriculture products, U.S. President Donald Trump said.
Trump and Japan’s Shinzo Abe made the announcement Sunday in Biarritz, France, at the Group of Seven summit after holding a bilateral meeting earlier in the day.
“We’ve agreed in principle,” Trump says, citing Japanese purchases of U.S. corn as one part of the deal in principle, the scope of which was not immediately clear. “We’ve agreed to every point,' Trump said.
The countries have reached consensus on 'core elements' and are setting a goal to sign a deal at the end of September during United Nations meetings, Abe said via a translator. He said there was still some work to be done by officials.
Japanese media have reported that the U.S. and Japan have agreed on a broad framework of a deal that will keep U.S. tariffs on Japanese cars in place while lowering tariffs to U.S. beef and pork sales to Japan. A draft agreement could be signed by the end of next month, the Nikkei reported.
The deal would not cut the current U.S. tariffs on Japanese vehicles, Japanese media reported, but could potentially defend the country against Trump’s threat of new auto tariffs.
Trump had teased the deal throughout the day, saying he was “very close to a major deal with Japan' and that talks had been held over five months. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer had also said on Sunday that he presumed there’d be an announcement after Trump and Abe met.
Trump, earlier in the day, reiterated that he was close to reaching what he described as a “very big deal” with Japan. “Frankly, I think what’s happening with China helps with respect to Japan. But it’s a very big deal. It will be one of the biggest deals we’ve ever made with Japan,” he said.
Trump also said he planned to discuss North Korea during his meeting with Abe. Trump said that he’d probably meet again with North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un, and said that he didn’t like recent North Korean short-range missile tests but that he didn’t consider them a violation.
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