Trump to Delay Japan Trade Deal Until Country's July Polls

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said the U.S. is making "great progress" in trade negotiations with Japan even though a deal could come only after the latter’s elections in July.

"Agriculture and beef heavily in play" in the talks, Trump tweeted after spending about 2 1/2 hours golfing with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. "Much will wait until after their July elections where I anticipate big numbers!"

The president arrived in Japan Saturday for a four-day visit. The U.S. is threatening to raise auto tariffs and seeking more access to Japan’s agricultural market. The two countries won’t reach a trade deal before Trump and Abe meet on Monday, Japan Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Saturday following talks with his U.S. counterpart.

Japan is expected to head to the polls for the upper house in July, and many have predicted the government will take the opportunity to dissolve the more powerful lower house and hold a general election.

“POTUS will wait until after the July elections in the House of Councillors (Japanese equivalent of the Senate) before really pushing for a deal,” John Roberts, chief White House correspondent at Fox News, tweeted earlier, citing a call from Trump.

The two countries still had differences and agreed to work to close the gaps, Motegi said after nearly three hours of discussions with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Saturday in Tokyo.

They didn’t discuss contentious issues such as U.S. threats to restrict Japanese car exports and applying a currency clause, Motegi said. “We agreed to work to get a deal done quickly.”

Japan this month lifted longstanding restrictions on some U.S. beef, allowing products from all cattle to enter the Asian nation for the first time since 2003. Japan banned U.S. beef after a case of mad cow disease was found in Washington state in December 2003 and restored partial access two years later while prohibiting products from older animals.

U.S. beef was on the lunch menu after Trump and Abe’s game of golf on Sunday, in the form of a double cheeseburger, according to Japan’s foreign ministry. It was the fifth time the two had played together, and they "deepened their friendship amid a cozy atmosphere," the ministry said in a statement.

Trump this month declared that imported cars represented a threat to U.S. national security but announced a six-month delay in imposing new tariffs on imported vehicles and parts from Japan and other nations in order to pursue negotiations. He wants to cut the U.S. trade deficit with Japan.

At a dinner with Japanese business leaders Saturday, Trump sought out one who had recently criticized the U.S. leader.

Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota Motor Corp., was among Japan’s top executives who met Trump soon after he arrived in Japan. Earlier this month, Toyoda rebuked Trump’s declaration that imported cars and components threaten U.S. national security, saying it sent a message to Toyota that its decades of investment in the U.S. isn’t welcomed.

In pre-dinner remarks at the U.S. ambassador’s residence in Tokyo, Trump asked “where’s Toyota?”

“There’s nothing like the boss,” Trump said after people pointed out Toyoda in the crowd. “I thought that was you.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Emi Nobuhiro in Tokyo at enobuhiro@bloomberg.net;Yueqi Yang in New York at yyang492@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Linus Chua, Henry Hoenig

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