Trump Speaks To Japan PM Ishiba, Sets ‘Tough But Fair’ Tariff Talks

President Donald Trump said he spoke to Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Monday and that “tough but fair parameters are being set” for a negotiation over US reciprocal tariffs.

“He is sending a top team to negotiate! They have treated the US very poorly on Trade. They don’t take our cars, but we take MILLIONS of theirs. Likewise Agriculture, and many other ‘things.’ It all has to change, but especially with CHINA!!!” Trump posted on social media.

Trump’s decision to impose sweeping tariffs on virtually all US trading partners has sent markets into a tailspin and set foreign leaders racing to persuade the president to lower the charges. Japan was slapped with a 24% across-the-board tariff scheduled to begin Wednesday, in addition to a 25% auto duty that is expected to hit the nation’s exports hard.

The president’s trade war has US stocks close to entering their first bear market since the pandemic. The S&P 500 Index fell around 2% on Monday.

Ishiba on Monday said he agreed to continue discussing tariffs with Trump, but urged the president to back off his plans, saying that high levies could discourage foreign investment in the US. Trump has vowed his tariffs would encourage companies to move manufacturing to America.

“I expressed my strong concern that the tariff measures would reduce the investment capacity of Japanese companies,” Ishiba told reporters in Tokyo after his call with Trump. “Japan will strongly urge the US to reconsider its measures. I believe that Japan can overcome this situation, which is akin to a national crisis.”

Ishiba said he would convene a meeting of all Cabinet ministers on Tuesday to discuss their tariff response, and that the US and Japan have agreed to name officials to conduct further negotiations. Neither Trump nor Ishiba disclosed their names.

Frustrated world leaders have struggled to find ways to convince Trump to climb down from his move, which would raise US tariffs to their highest levels in more than a century and undercut the post-World War II global trading system. Many economists have warned that if the tariffs were fully enacted, it could tip world economies into a recession.

More than 50 countries have reached out to Trump to begin negotiations over the charges, White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Sunday on ABC ’s This Week. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to discuss the issue later Monday during a White House meeting with Trump.

Trump has made a number of comments that have caused foreign leaders to wonder what concessions he would find acceptable, or whether he even wants to cut deals at all. The president said Sunday that any agreements would need to eliminate bilateral trade deficits, a tall task for many trading partners.

“To me, a deficit is a loss,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “We’re going to have surpluses or, at worst, we’re going to be breaking even.”