Japan downplayed president Donald Trump's wishful statements a new trade deal with the United States will be signed, sealed and delivered by August.
True to his boastful nature, Trump claimed -- and without corroboration by his Japanese counterpart prime minister Abe Shinzo -- there will be announcements of a trade deal by the two countries "probably in August." Trump also suggested Japan had agreed to take steps so the U.S. trade deficit with Japan will be "straightened out rapidly."
Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry Toshimitsu Motegi begged to differ with Trump, however. He tamped-down expectations for a deal as fast as Trump wants, saying Trump's comments only reflected Trump's hopes for quick progress in negotiations.
"When you look at the exact wording of his comments, you can see that the president was voicing his hopes of swift progress in talks toward something that is mutually beneficial," said Motegi in a press briefing with reporters.
Motegi, who is in charge of trade talks with the U.S., said after meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer there are differences between the two sides that need to be settled.
"We've agreed that we'll strive to narrow the gap, including through possibly holding working-level talks," said Motegi.
He also said no future talks have been scheduled.
Even U.S. analysts are skeptical about Trump's boast a new trade deal could be reached after only two months of work.
"It's going to take longer than that," said Matthew Goodman, senior advisor for Asian economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
He believes intractable disagreements over agriculture and automobiles means these thorny issues will likely take longer than a few months to be resolved. Then, one has to take into account the complex legislative processes in both countries, said Goodman.
He thinks Trump was trying to indicate in his comments that "he wouldn't put pressure on Prime Minister Abe ahead of the upper house elections in Japan in July, and so it was going to take until August to get this done."
Trump concluded his four-day state visit to Japan on Tuesday.
The U.S.' merchandise trade deficit with Japan ballooned to $67.6 billion in 2018, according to the office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Trump wants a substantial reduction in the trade imbalance between the countries and has threatened to raise tariffs on Japanese cars and imports to the U.S. to get his way.
Despite the calm façade of the state visit, Japan and the U.S. have been locking horns in testy trade talks over tariffs on automobiles and agricultural products for months.
