Tokyo - US President Donald Trump
pressed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday to even out
a trade imbalance with the United States and said he was happy
with how things were going with North Korea but was in no rush
to reach a peace deal.
Trump said at a news conference with Abe after their summit
that his goal was to remove trade barriers to put US exports
on a fair footing in Japan. He said he hoped to have more to
announce on trade very soon and said he and Abe had agreed to
expand cooperation in human space exploration.
"We have an unbelievably large imbalance, as you know, trade
imbalance with Japan for many, many years, Japan having the big
advantage," Trump said.
"They are brilliant business people, brilliant negotiators,
and put us in a very tough spot. But I think we will have a deal
with Japan," he added.
Abe, for his part, said the two leaders had agreed to speed
up two-way trade talks, but dodged a question about timing.
Trump, who is on a four-day state visit to Japan meant to
showcase the alliance between the allies, said on Twitter on
Sunday that he expected big moves on trade would wait until
after Japan's upper house election in July.
"Trade-wise, I think we'll be announcing some things,
probably in August, that will be very good for both countries,"
Trump said on Monday at the start of the talks. "We'll get the
balance of trade, I think, straightened out rapidly."
Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasutoshi Nishimura told
reporters there was no agreement to reach a trade deal by
August.
Abe, who has developed a warm relationship with Trump since
the US leader came to office, stressed the closeness of ties.
"This visit of President Trump and Madame Trump is a golden
opportunity to clearly show the unshakable bond to the whole
world and inside Japan as well," Abe told the news conference.
Earlier, Trump was greeted by Emperor Naruhito and his
Harvard-educated wife at the imperial palace in Tokyo in a
formal welcome ceremony broadcast live on national television.
Trump is the first foreign dignitary to be received by the
monarch since the latter inherited the throne after his father,
Akihito, stepped down on April 30 in the first abdication by a
Japanese emperor in two centuries.
Trump has made clear he was pleased to have the honour of
the first reception with the emperor, who is hosting a state
dinner for the U.S. leader and his wife on Monday.
On Sunday, Trump spent what he said was "an incredible
evening" watching the Japanese national sport of sumo - where
nearly naked wrestlers grapple on a raised sand ring - after he
and Abe had bonded over hamburgers and golf.
FRIENDSHIP AND FRICTION
Abe and Trump have put on a show of friendship but have
policy disagreements over trade and North Korea.
Trump has threatened to target Japanese automakers with high
tariffs.
He has also spearheaded an expensive trade dispute with
China. That trade war between the world's two largest economies
has hurt markets worldwide and confounded US allies, including
Japan and the European Union, although those allies share U.S.
concerns about Chinese practices.
Trump told the news conference that Washington was not ready
to make a deal with Beijing but he expected on in the future.
"I believe that we will have a very good deal with China
sometime in the future. Because I don't believe that China can
continue to pay these really hundreds of billions of dollars in
tariffs," he said.
"You know businesses are leaving China, by the hundreds, by
the thousands, and going into areas that are not tariffed."
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters in
Beijing that China's stance was consistent: all disputes should
be resolved through negotiations and China-U.S. consultations
"must be based on mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit”.
Trump also expressed optimism over prospects that North
Korea would give up its nuclear programme, and repeated that he
was not bothered by its recent missile tests.
"My people think it could have been a violation, as you
know. I view it differently – I view it as a man, perhaps he
wants to get attention. Perhaps not. Who knows? It doesn't
matter. All I know is that there have been no nuclear tests, no
ballistic missiles going out, no long-range missiles going out.
And I think that someday we'll have a deal," Trump said.
"I'm not in a rush," he added.
Trump also said he agreed with Kim that former US Vice
President Joe Biden, who has been critical of North Korea and is
now campaigning to become the Democratic Party candidate for the
2020 US presidential election, was a "low IQ individual".
Abe said he supported Trump's approach to Kim, but repeated
Japan's stance that recent short-range missile tests violated
UN Security Council resolutions.
The two leaders also discussed Iran. Japanese media have
said Abe was considering a trip there next month, to try to
soothe rising tension between Iran and the United States.
Also on Monday, Trump met families of Japanese citizens
kidnapped by North Korea and told the relatives that he would
work with Abe to bring the abductees home.
In 2002, North Korea admitted its agents had kidnapped 13
Japanese decades ago. Japan says 17 of its citizens were
abducted, five of whom were repatriated. North Korea has said
eight are dead and that another four never entered the country.
Abe has vowed not to rest until all the abductees come home.