Ishiba Vows to Discuss Tariffs with Trump Soon

Osaka, April 5 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Saturday that he plans to speak to U.S. President Donald Trump by phone as early as next week to discuss the president's reciprocal tariffs.

Ishiba plans to ask Trump to reconsider the tariffs by highlighting Japan's contributions as the largest investor in the United States, people familiar with the matter said.

Japanese products exported to the United States will be slapped with a 24 pct tariff as part of Trump's plans, announced Wednesday, to impose reciprocal tariffs on imports from a host of U.S. trading partners.

"I will talk logically about how much Japan will benefit (the United States)," Ishiba said on television during a visit to Osaka, a city in western Japan. He said Japan will consider new investments in the United States.

He indicated that Japan has no plans to impose retaliatory tariffs against the United States, saying, "We will not go tit-for-tat."

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]