Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya called President Donald Trump’s imposition of tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports “regrettable” in a statement to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Iwaya told reporters after the meeting at the La Malbaie resort in Quebec, Canada, that he had asked the Trump administration to exempt Japan from the planned auto and reciprocal tariffs.
Iwaya said Rubio also conveyed to Rubio that the two countries should further strengthen their bilateral alliance in line with the agreement reached during Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s summit with Trump at the White House in February. Rubio said the US-Japan relationship was “extremely important” and that he would convey Tokyo’s concerns to Washington, Iwaya said. Iwaya emphasized that the two countries should further strengthen their bilateral alliance in line with the agreement reached during Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba’s summit with Trump in February. In this context, it is aimed to increase strategic cooperation between Japan and the US and to make economic relations more balanced.
