Trump demand for Japan to buy more US rice snagged trade talks, Nikkei says [View all]
Source: Reuters
August 30, 2025 2:58 AM EDT Updated 7 hours ago
TOKYO, Aug 30 (Reuters) - A Trump administration request that Japan buy more U.S. rice caused this week's snag in bilateral trade talks as Tokyo "strongly objected" to the condition, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Saturday.
Japan's top tariff negotiator abruptly cancelled a U.S. trip on Thursday over unspecified "points that need to be discussed at the administrative level", the top government spokesperson said, as the two sides try to hammer out details of a July agreement on a reduced 15% tariff on U.S. imports from Japan.
The Nikkei, citing Japanese government officials it did not identify, said a revised order from President Donald Trump included a commitment for Japan to buy more American rice. One official criticised the proposal as an "interference in domestic affairs," the business daily said. The office of negotiator Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's minister for economic policy, and the agriculture and foreign ministries, as well as the U.S. embassy could not be reached for comment on the report outside business hours.
The Nikkei said the new demand contradicted an agreement that Japan would not need to lower its tariffs on agricultural imports. In the July deal, the White House said Japan would boost U.S. rice purchases by 75%. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said the share of U.S. rice imports might increase under an existing tariff-free framework but that the agreement did "not sacrifice" Japanese agriculture.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/trump-demand-japan-buy-more-us-rice-snagged-trade-talks-nikkei-says-2025-08-30/
= new reply since forum marked as read