Ishiba, Trump to Appoint Ministers for Tariff Talks

Tokyo, April 7 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed in a phone call Monday that they will appoint relevant ministers to hold talks on a series of tariffs announced by the Trump administration.

"Through the talks, we will strongly urge the United States to reconsider the (tariff) measures," Ishiba told reporters after the 25-minute phone call.

Ishiba and Trump exchanged views for the first time since Ishiba visited Washington in February.

During the phone call, Ishiba told Trump that Japan is the world's largest investor in the United States and expressed concern that the U.S. tariffs could weaken the investment capacity of Japanese companies.

Ishiba emphasized that Japan and the United States should not take unilateral tariff measures, but should pursue broad cooperation, including in expanding investment, that is in the interests of both countries.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]