TOKYO:

A Trump administration request that Japan buy more US rice caused this week’s snag in bilateral trade talks as Tokyo “strongly objected” to the condition, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Saturday.

Japan’s top tariff negotiator abruptly cancelled a US trip on Thursday over unspecified “points that need to be discussed at the administrative level”, the top government spokesperson said, as the two sides try to hammer out details of a July agreement on a reduced 15% tariff on US imports from Japan.

The Nikkei, citing Japanese government officials it did not identify, said a revised order from President Donald Trump included a commitment for Japan to buy more American rice. One official criticised the proposal and termed it “interference in domestic affairs,” the business daily said. The Nikkei said the new demand contradicted an agreement that Japan would not need to lower its tariffs on agricultural imports.

In the July deal, the White House said Japan would boost US rice purchases by 75%. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said the share of US rice imports might increase under an existing tariff-free framework but that the agreement did “not sacrifice” Japanese agriculture.

Japan’s Minister for Economic Policy Ryosei Akazawa’s trip was meant to finalise Japan’s agreement to a $550 billion package of US-bound investment through government-backed loans and guarantees, the contents of which remain obscure.