Japan ‘rooting for Donald Trump’ in China trade war, but urges US not to ‘monopolise’ any benefits
- Tamaki Tsukada, deputy director general for economic affairs within Japan’s foreign ministry, is keeping a close eye on any deal with President Xi Jinping
- Chinese economists and officials are studying the history of Japan’s own trade war with the US in the 1980s for guidance on the current situation
A Japanese minister has urged the United States not to “monopolise” the concessions it extracts from China as part of any trade war deal, urging US President Donald Trump to share them with the rest of the world.
Tamaki Tsukada, deputy director general for economic affairs within Japan’s foreign ministry, said: “We should be vigilant about what kind of agreement is reached between the US and China, and make sure that Trump will not monopolise whatever benefits he extracts out of China.”
Tsukada, speaking at an event in Hong Kong on Thursday, said that while most countries are against any form of trade conflict in theory, many will be “rooting for Trump” in his ongoing tariff war with China, hoping that it leads to real structural reform within China, the benefits of which can be enjoyed by other trading nations.
“We need to recognise that all the heavy lifting will have to be done by the US. There’s a kind of alter ego of criticising on the surface, but at the same time rooting for Trump to get more out of China,” Tsukada told the Asia Trade Summit, organised by The Economist magazine.
Negotiations between the US and China are continuing, with the US suspending the planned tariff increase from 10 per cent to 25 per cent.
The deadline was due to be on Friday, but no further hard deadline will be imposed, the office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) confirmed this week.