트럼프 "美-日, 무역협정 잠정합의…수주 내로 체결할 것"

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that he has reached an initial trade agreement with Japan.
Trump says U.S. will reduce tariffs, boost e-commerce with Japan }In a letter to Congress, Trump said that the U.S. aims to achieve a comprehensive trade agreement to bring a more fair and reciprocal trade through tariff reduction.
U.S., Japan agreed to bilateral trade deal "in principle" in August}In a previous deal reached in August between Washington and Tokyo, Trump and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe agreed in "principle" on various sectors including agriculture and e-commerce. Automobiles were excluded.
No reference on auto tariffs on Monday's agreement}As for this agreement, although the details have not been revealed, reference on auto tariffs are omitted as well.
Tariffs on automobiles are a critical issue to both countries and has been source of delay in their trade talks.
With the U.S. struggling with a major trade deficit in automobiles and components, it has been threatening to impose 25-percent tariffs on those goods imported from the EU and Japan.
This, in turn, made it difficult for Japan to come to an agreement with the US.
To reach a compromise, Japan made concessions in August like agreeing to buy excess U.S. corn.
With Monday's progress in bilateral trade talks, attention is now on whether the two sides will sign a final deal when they meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York later this month.
Lee Kyungeun, Arirang news