Japan and South Korea see room to negotiate with Trump the tariffs he wants to impose on August 1
The US president announced tariffs of 25% for South Korea and Japan starting in August
South Korea said on Tuesday that it interprets the letter sent by Washington, which announces the imposition of reciprocal tariffs of 25% starting on August 1, as a tacit extension of the negotiation period and called an emergency meeting to outline its strategy in response.
The South Korean presidential office announced that it will hold a countermeasures meeting on bilateral trade issues at 1:30 pm local time (4:30 GMT) led by Chief Secretary for Policy Kim Yong-beom, with senior officials from the Trade, Finance, Foreign Affairs and National Security departments to analyze the impact of the US notification and coordinate the next steps.
“We believe that, with this letter, the suspension of reciprocal tariffs has been effectively extended until August 1, and during the remaining time we will intensify negotiations to achieve a mutually beneficial result and reduce the uncertainty caused by the tariffs as soon as possible,” said the South Korean Ministry of Commerce, in statements reported by the local news agency Yonhap.
For its part, the Japanese government welcomed the extension of the US tariff extension until the end of the month, but avoided evaluating the announcement of the increase to 25% of the tax on its goods, limiting itself to saying that it will continue negotiations with Washington with its own interests in mind.
"We are trying to avoid adopting an agreement by the easy way. We ask for what we must ask for and we protect what we must protect, and that is how we are negotiating with all our effort," said Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba today in statements to the press from the Kantei, the headquarters of the Japanese government, after a meeting of his Cabinet to discuss countermeasures against the tariffs.
Ishiba attributed the delay of the date of entry into force of the tariffs to the negotiations carried out so far and reiterated that “both countries will continue negotiating with the new deadline in mind, while seeking to protect their national interests and reach a mutually beneficial agreement.”