Palm Beach, Fla.
But the leaders said they had failed to reach a deal that would exempt Japan from new U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs, as Abe had wanted.
“If we can come to an arrangement on a new deal, that would certainly be something we would discuss,” Trump said during a joint news conference at his private Mar-a-Lago club. But he said the current trade deficit between the two countries is too high for him to offer an exemption now.
Most other key U.S. allies — among them Australia, Canada, the European Union and Mexico — already have been granted exemptions to Trump’s protectionist measures on steel and aluminum.
The U.S. trade deficit with Japan last year was $56.1 billion, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Trump said he was working to reduce that imbalance and pushing to remove barriers to U.S. exports.
“We’re committed to pursuing a bilateral trading relationship that benefits both of our great countries,” he said.
Japan previously has voiced reluctance to a bilateral trade deal with the U.S.
Trump also made clear that he has little interest in rejoining negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal unless the terms are dramatically altered.
“While Japan and South Korea would like us to go back into TPP, I don’t like the deal for the United States,” Trump tweeted on Tuesday, following a dinner with Abe and their respective wives at Trump’s resort. “Too many contingencies and no way to get out if it doesn’t work. Bilateral deals are far more efficient, profitable and better for OUR workers.”
Trump pulled the U.S. out of TPP days after his inauguration but recently said he might be open to rejoining.
During Abe’s two-day visit, Trump appeared to be seeking to reassure him of the pair’s close alliance as the president prepares for a historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trump and Abe spent Wednesday morning golfing at one of Trump’s nearby courses in their latest show of “golf diplomacy,” and had an intimate dinner on Tuesday evening with their wives.
The Trump-Abe summit has played out amid growing tensions between the two countries over North Korea and trade. Japan has raised concerns that the U.S. might press Kim only on long-range missiles that could hit the mainland United States — and not on the short- and medium-range missiles that pose an immediate threat to Japan — as they discuss North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
Abe on Tuesday praised Trump for his courage in agreeing to meet with Kim and suggested he and Trump had already come to terms on several issues.
Speaking through a translator during one of their meetings, Abe said that he and Trump had “very in-depth discussions” on both North Korea and economic issues and that “on those two points” they had “successfully forged a mutual understanding.”
The two did not reveal what those agreements were, but Abe had been expected to urge Trump to exempt Japan from the tariffs and press him on the missile issue.