Trump expresses disappointment over US-Japan trade negotiations, Bessen warns of increased tariffs

Gate News bot reports that, according to Reuters, U.S. President Donald Trump expressed disappointment over U.S.-Japan trade negotiations on Monday. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessen warned that despite good faith negotiations, as the July 9 deadline approaches, countries may still receive notices of significant tariff increases. Trump posted on social media that Japan’s reluctance to import U.S. rice indicates that countries have already been “spoiled by the U.S.”.

“I have great respect for Japan; they will not accept our rice, but they are facing a serious rice shortage,” Trump wrote on the “Truth Social” platform. “We will just send them a letter, and we are happy to have them as our trading partners for many years to come.” Last week, Trump stated that his administration would send letters to several countries before July 9, notifying them of an increase in tariff rates. At that time, the tariff rates for these countries would revert from the temporary 10% back to the suspended rates of 11% to 50% announced on April 2. On Monday, Trump protested against the rice trade between the U.S. and Japan, after stating in a televised speech on Sunday that Japan was engaged in “unfair” automotive trade with the United States. White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said on Monday, “If countries do not sit down and negotiate sincerely,” Trump will meet with his trade team to jointly formulate tariff rates.