Japan Proposing Shipbuilding Cooperation in U.S. Tariff Talks
Tokyo, May 12 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government is proposing in tariff negotiations with the United States that the two countries cooperate in shipbuilding, sources said Monday.
Tokyo has taken the approach as U.S. President Donald Trump's administration seeks to revive his country's shipbuilding industry in order to compete with China, which holds a dominant market share.
Japan hopes that offering technical assistance for shipbuilding can be used as a bargaining chip to win concessions on automotive tariffs and other issues.
According to the Japanese government's 2024 white paper on land, infrastructure, transport and tourism, China accounted for 48.9 pct of the world's new ship construction in 2023, followed by South Korea at 28.5 pct and Japan at 15.6 pct. The United States, once a leader in shipbuilding, was far behind.
Washington is concerned that the decline of the U.S. shipbuilding industry may have a negative impact on national security. It plans to accelerate the reconstruction of the sector in cooperation with allies Japan and South Korea.
Last month, Trump issued an executive order on reviving maritime industries including shipbuilding.
Although Japan lags behind China in terms of shipbuilding capacity, it boasts advanced technologies, including for icebreakers, necessary for navigation in the Arctic Ocean.
A joint statement released at a summit between Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Trump in February called for strengthening bilateral cooperation, including "co-production, co-development and co-sustainment that...strengthens U.S. and Japanese defense industrial capacity, including maritime."
Tokyo and Washington plan to hold the third round of their minister-level tariff negotiations later this month. While Japan calls for the lifting of Trump tariffs, the U.S. side says that additional levies on automobiles and steel are outside the scope of the talks.
Amid the wide gap between the two countries, Japan hopes that cooperation in the shipbuilding sector can help break the deadlock. It is asking domestic shipbuilders what kind of contributions can be made.
The U.S. government is set to hold a conference in Maryland in mid-May to promote investments in the country, with the shipbuilding sector set to be included on the agenda. U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass said in a social media post Friday that the Japanese government will send officials to the event.
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