Trump seeks to ‘reassure’ Abe of their close alliance
US Prez reveals direct N. Korea contacts
PALM BEACH, Florida, April 18, (Agencies): Seeking to reassure Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of their close alliance ahead of planned talks with North Korea, the Donald Trump administration has signaled it is open to considering exempting Japan from new steel and aluminum tariffs that Abe opposes.
Hosting Abe at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Trump said the tariffs could be a topic during the visit, which comes as Trump prepares for an historic summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
Trump also gave Abe a win on Tuesday, pledging to raise the issue of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea, a top Japanese priority, in his meeting with Kim.
But Trump later suggested there was one area where he and Abe would have to agree to disagree: the Trans-Pacific trade partnership, which Trump pulled the US out of days after his inauguration, but has recently said he might be open to re-joining.
“While Japan and South Korea would like us to go back into TPP, I don’t like the deal for the United States,” Trump tweeted, following a dinner with Abe and their wives. “Too many contingencies and no way to get out if it doesn’t work. Bilateral deals are far more efficient, profitable and better for OUR workers.”
The two-day Trump-Abe summit played out amid growing tensions between the two countries over North Korea and trade. Japan has warned that Kim may simply be trying to buy time and has raised concerns that the US might not press Kim to abandon his short- and medium-range missiles, which pose an
Trump
immediate threat to Japan, as they discuss the country’s nuclear weapons program.
Japan has also been questioning why it wasn’t granted exemptions to Trump’s protectionist measures on steel and aluminum when most other key US allies — among them Australia, Canada, the European Union and Mexico — have been.
But Abe spent much of Tuesday praising Trump’s courage for agreeing to meet and suggested the two had already come to terms on several contentions issues.
Speaking through a translator during one of their meetings, Abe said he and Trump had had “very in-depth discussions” on both North Korea and economic issues and said that “on those two points” they had “successfully forged a mutual understanding.”
The two did not reveal what those agreements were, but Abe had been expected to urge to Trump to exempt Japan from the tariffs and press him on the missile issue.
Larry Kudlow, the director of the National Economic Council, had said earlier Tuesday that issuing Japan the waiver was “on the table,” but he declined to say what Trump would ask for in return.
The talks came amid news that CIA Director Mike Pompeo had recently traveled in secret to North Korea to meet with Kim ahead of a US-North Korea summit planned in the next two months. Two officials confirmed the trip to The Associated Press on Tuesday. The officials were not authorized to discuss the visit publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
In the first news report about the meeting, The Washington Post said it had taken place two weeks ago, shortly after the CIA chief was nominated to become secretary of state.
In related news, President Donald Trump confirmed direct contacts between the United States and North Korea and gave his blessing to talks aimed at formally ending the Korean war in a series of diplomatic revelations Tuesday.