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After a late-April meeting between President
Donald Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump had said it
was possible for the two allies to reach a new bilateral trade
deal by the time he visits Tokyo in late May.
Kenji Wakamiya, chairman of the lower house of parliament's
foreign affairs committee, said he expected the United States
would not be as tough on Japan as it had been on China, though
adding it was not certain a deal could be reached this month.
On Friday, Trump angered foreign automakers including Toyota
Motor Corp by declaring that some imported vehicles and parts
posed a national security threat, while delaying a decision for
as long as six months on whether to impose tariffs to allow more
time for trade talks with the European Union and Japan.
The Trump administration could demand Japan set targets on U.S.
production by Japanese carmakers, Wakamiya told a Reuters News
seminar.
"Even if Trump tells us desirable outcomes for him, it would be
difficult for the Japanese government to tell carmakers what
they should do. They have their ideas and shareholders ... So it
won't be easy. Still, a move in that direction is one possible
solution," he said.
Wakamiya also said that the U.S. black-listing of China's
technology giant, Huawei Technologies, would affect Japanese
companies.
"I think the crackdown is likely to last long, probably as long
as Trump is in the White House. There will be a considerable
impact on Japan. Japanese companies which trade with Huawei
should look for other customers," he said.
(Reporting by Yoshifumi Takemoto; Additional reporting by
Hideyuki Sano; Writing by Chang-Ran Kim and Hideyuki Sano;
Editing by Chris Gallagher)
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