Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Masato Ohtaka reiterated the target to sign a trade agreement with US by the end of this month. He noted that “we still have some time and all my colleagues in the government are making their best efforts to actually meet this target”. Separately, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga also said that “With the U.N. General Assembly meeting in mind, we are accelerating the remaining work, including the wording of a trade agreement.”
Japan officials and business executives have expressed concern of signing a trade deal with assurance from the US on not imposing tariffs on Japanese cars. That’s the key issue that might drag the negotiations through the self-imposed deadline. However, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, said alongside US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, that he had no concern on the auto tariff threats. Motegi expected no much of a delay on the trade agreement.
