The ongoing Japan-U.S. trade negotiations were the focus of U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent state visit to Japan. When he sat down with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on May 27, the two leaders agreed to accelerate the talks with the aim of achieving concrete results soon.
The biggest concern is that Tokyo will cave in to pressure from Washington to take measures that lead to the “management” of exports and exchange rates. Both sides should recognize that rushing to embrace managed trade would benefit neither. Instead, they should be seeking common ground for a constructive agreement.
