Comments from Aso earlier - here: Japan finance minister Aso: Won't pursue free trade deal to reduce US trade deficit
Reuters with a little more detail and recap:
- Japan would not enter a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States as a means to resolve the two countries' trade imbalance
- Speaking to reporters after a cabinet meeting
- "In the 1980s, Japan accounted for 53 percent of U.S. trade deficits, but the situation is totally different now"
- Japan now accounts for only 9 percent of the U.S. trade deficit,
- China accounts for 47 percent
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So it seems the brown nosing has been left to Abe. Aso with a more forthright role.
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ps. Nikkei on a tear - highest since 1992 today