Japan's Ishiba vows to expand Asia-Pacific trade group

TOKYO

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has expressed determination to defend rules-based, free and multilateral trade systems and work on expanding the main Asia-Pacific trade group at a time of tension over U.S. tariffs.

“High tariffs will not bring economic prosperity," Ishiba told a global forum in Tokyo.

Japan seeks to work with the U.S. on investment , job creation and manufacturing high quality products for the prosperity of America and the rest of the world, he said.

His comment comes as Japan’s chief tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa travels to Washington, for a fourth round of talks aiming to convince the U.S. to drop all recent tariff measures.

So far Japan has not been successful in gaining U.S. concessions and is reportedly considering purchases of more U.S. farm products and defense equipment as bargaining chips.

On May 29, Ishiba telephoned U.S. President Donald Trump to touch base ahead of the talks in Washington. The two leaders now have “deeper understanding about each other,” Ishiba told reporters, though there is no change to Japan’s position on the tariffs.

He declined to give further details.

Ishiba, in his speech, also called on other countries in Asia, a global hub of growth, to show “the importance of rules-based, free and fair economic order," and said the way to demonstrate that is to promote the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP.

The 12-nation CPTPP includes Japan, the U.K, New Zealand, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. The U.S. is not a member.