Japan’s Aso brings little home from G20

Finance minister failed to get exemption from US tariffs on metals

Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso won’t have an easy homecoming. After he flies back from Washington, Aso is likely to face further media questions and calls for his resignation amid a string of scandals at the finance ministry. In Washington, he said he’s not considering stepping down, but a political backlash could intensify given Aso attended his first G20 gathering in a year despite failing to get parliament’s approval.

Aso is bringing little tangible diplomatic progress after his criticism of protectionism in his meeting with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin confirmed clear differences on trade policy between the two nations. He didn’t get an exemption from US tariffs on metals, either. Earlier in the week, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s meeting with US President Donald Trump also highlighted their differences on trade.

“No progress was made and we simply confirmed the US wants to pursue a bilateral channel,” Masaki Kuwahara, a Tokyo-based senior economist at Nomura Securities Co, said yesterday in a phone interview. “The political situation for the Abe administration is worsening and I think the current political chaos will continue.”

The US aims for bilateral negotiations to fix trade imbalances with other nations, while Japan prefers a multilateral pact and hopes the US will rejoin the Trans-Pacific Partnership.