Talks have broken down! No major progress has been made in the negotiations between the US and Japan! On April 7, according to the Singapore Lianhe Zaobao report, foreign media reported that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stated at a press conference in Tokyo: Future negotiations will not be easy, but President Trump indicated that Japan would be given the highest priority negotiation status. However, no agreement was reached between the US and Japan, and Japan failed to obtain an immediate reduction of US tariffs.

In fact, previously, Trump also claimed that he was very honored to have just met with the Japanese trade delegation. Significant progress has been made! But now it seems that Trump's so-called significant progress is just his unilateral self-promotion. Why did Japan and the US fail to reach an agreement? The most fundamental reason may be that the US demands are too high for Japan to meet its requirements.

Previously, insiders revealed that the US hoped Japan would purchase US 100-year interest-free Treasury bonds, but the Japanese side stated that the negotiations would not involve any bond issues. To put it bluntly, with the current US Treasury bond interest rates, the interest generated by a 100-year bond could even exceed the principal of the bond. This condition proposed by the US is no different from robbery.

The Japanese side claims that they would be given the highest priority negotiation status. If this is already the treatment of the highest priority negotiation status, one can only imagine how outrageous the US would be if they were not prioritized. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stated that tariff negotiations would not make major concessions and would not rush to reach an agreement. Therefore, the霸王 clauses proposed by the US are unlikely to be accepted by Japan. Especially since Japan is well aware that the trade war is causing tremendous pressure domestically within the US, and it is Trump who is more eager to reach an agreement now.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1829625649261722/

Disclaimer: The article solely represents the author's personal views.