The Japanese government has reportedly expressed its intention to purchase semiconductor products manufactured by American corporations in bulk.

Scott Bensent, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury (center), and Akazawa Ryosei, Japan’s Minister of Economic Revitalization (right), are shaking hands. On the left is Howard Lutnick, U.S. Secretary of Commerce. /Courtesy of Yonhap News Agency

According to the Asahi Shimbun on the morning of the 28th, the Japanese government proposed to the United States to purchase billions of dollars worth of semiconductor products produced by American corporations in order to resolve trade imbalances during tariff negotiations with the U.S. It is expected that the semiconductor import amount could reach as high as 1 trillion yen (about 950 billion won).

The Japanese government has reportedly made this proposal with the intention of securing products from NVIDIA, which dominates the semiconductor market necessary for data centers used in artificial intelligence (AI) development. The government plans to provide subsidies to its domestic IT corporations that operate data centers to support the purchase of American semiconductors.

However, last year, the U.S. trade deficit with Japan was $68.5 billion (about 94 trillion won), and the semiconductor purchase amount proposed by Japan is only about 10% of the deficit, leading to analyses that the negotiation effect may be minimal.

So far, Japan has presented the U.S. with measures for expanding agricultural imports, improving regulations for expanding automobile imports, and cooperation in the shipbuilding sector. However, the U.S. is maintaining its position that negotiations can only proceed regarding tariffs that are applied differentially by country.

Japan has been notified of a 24% tariff, which includes an additional 14% on the uniformly applied 10%. Consequently, the government is reportedly working to reduce the tariff on automobiles, which accounts for about 30% of its exports to the U.S.

In this context, Minister Akazawa Ryosei is scheduled to depart for the U.S. on the 29th and will conduct the fourth tariff negotiations with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Vessen on the 30th (local time) in Washington, D.C.

In response, NHK reported that “the Japanese government aims to continue negotiations intensively to reach an agreement on tariff issues during the Japan-U.S. summit held in conjunction with the G7 meeting next month in Canada.”