US- Japan talks should avoid meddling in domestic policy

Japanese Economics Minister Akira Amari, who led Japan’s negotiation team on the TransPacific Partnership, which was essentially scuttled when US President Donald Trump pulled the US out, said the two nations needed to conduct talks with an eye toward emerging markets and the world as a whole.

Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed last month to launch a bilateral economic dialogue to discuss trade and infrastructure investment.

Japan, concerned about Trump’s comments on trade and currencies, hopes to use the talks to avoid trade friction and ensure the US is engaged in the AsiaPacific region.

Asked about the possibility that the US may make demands regarding Japan’s fiscal and monetary policy, Amari told Reuters in an interview: “One nation should not meddle with another nation in areas where sovereign and independent rights exist.”

Taro Aso, finance minister and deputy prime minister, and Vice President Mike Pence, who is expected to visit Japan next month, will lead the talks.

Amari will visit the US with other Japanese lawmakers this week to meet US lawmakers to exchange views on issues including the economy and trade.

“The economic dialogue should be a place to build a basis for how Japan and the US can share common view and cooperate with each other strategically, with a view toward the Asia- Pacific region and the world but beyond the two nations,” Amari said.

Trump has complained about the US trade deficit with Japan and accused Tokyo of using its “money supply” to weaken the yen and give exporters an unfair advantage. This is seen as a criticism of the Bank of Japan’s policy of flooding the financial system with yen to end deflation.

Trump avoided harsh rhetoric during a friendly summit with Abe last month that included a round of golf.

Amari said Japan’s monetary policy is aimed at beating deflation because the nation needs to revive the economy and restore fiscal health.

He said Japan and the US are unlikely to have a detailed discussion on issues like trade deficit at the outset of the dialogue. “Currency manipulation and monetary policy need to be separated,” he said.