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(Bloomberg) -- Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said he and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio agreed to bring their countries’ ties to new heights in their first meeting.
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Earlier in the week, Iwaya became the first Japanese foreign minister to attend a US presidential inauguration ceremony. Following his meeting with Rubio, Iwaya told reporters he was able to secure understanding from him on the importance of the US-Japan economic relationship, and how much Japan contributes to the US economy. The two didn’t specifically discuss tariffs, he said.
“In effect, this was a meeting Rubio had on his first day as Secretary,” Iwaya said. “I believe we were able to have a frank discussion and exchange opinions on a wide range of topics.”
While President Donald Trump hasn’t made any immediate and major moves on universal global tariffs on his first day in office, Japan may still have to navigate tariff threats in the future. In 2019, the country managed to avoid additional levies on its auto exports through drawn out trade talks, but the Iwaya-Rubio meeting appeared to remain free of tariff threats for now.
“We agreed to continue to work together to take the Japan-US alliance to new heights and to work closely together to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Iwaya said.
The foreign minister also met National Security Adviser Mike Waltz as well as attending a Quad meeting with Rubio and their counterparts from Australia and India. The fact that the Quad meeting took place right after the start of the new administration shows Trump acknowledges the importance of multilateral frameworks, Iwaya said.
The date of the first summit between Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is still being arranged, Iwaya added.
Japan’s foreign minister was also asked whether he and Rubio discussed a potential request from Washington to boost Japan’s defense contribution, and the controversy over Nippon Steel Corp.’s plan to buy United States Steel Corp. Iwaya said he told Rubio that Japan is steadily increasing its defense budget, and touted the fact that Japan is the US’s biggest investor.
“We intend to further expand our investment, and in order to do that, I asked him to make efforts to dispel any concerns or worries about Japanese investment into the US,” Iwaya said, without specifically citing the Nippon Steel issue.