Japan's Akazawa to Visit U.S. from Thurs. for Tariff Talks

Tokyo, Aug. 27 (Jiji Press)--Japanese economic revitalization minister Ryosei Akazawa said Wednesday that he will visit the United States for three days from Thursday for bilateral tariff negotiations.

"I will strongly ask the U.S. side to review its reciprocal tariffs and lower automobile tariffs as quickly as possible," Akazawa, in charge of the negotiations with Washington, said at a press conference.

He and U.S. officials may also discuss a compilation of documents on the two countries' tariff agreement, as the United State has requested.

The documents are expected to include issues related to Japan's pledge to offer 550 billion dollars in investments in and loans to the United States. Washington has asked for official papers to guarantee Japan's fulfillment of the pledge. Akazawa declined to comment on the matter at the press conference.

The Japanese side was initially negative about the request, but eventually accepted it in order to encourage the United States to promise early tariff reductions.

The two sides have agreed that the United States would not impose reciprocal tariffs on Japanese products that are subject to tariffs of 15 pct or higher while raising tariff rates to 15 pct for items for which the current rates are lower than the level. The United States, however, has simply added 15 pct to the current tariff rates.

The U.S. side has indicated that it will modify tariff rates in line with the agreement and return the amounts that were collected in excess of the agreed levels.

It has not yet lowered tariffs on vehicles from 27.5 pct to 15 pct, the rate agreed by the two sides.
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