Japan, UK to hold regular economic security talks

Japan and Britain have agreed to hold regular high-level talks on economic security, Tokyo said Tuesday after the two countries’ leaders met on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

The move comes ahead of the second White House stint for Donald Trump, who has promised to levy massive tariffs on China and to raise import duties for others.

The United States and its Group of Seven (G7) allies, including Japan and Britain, have warned of a “disturbing rise in incidents of economic coercion” in a veiled reference to China.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and his UK counterpart Keir Starmer held a bilateral meeting on Monday in Rio de Janeiro. Both are members of the G20 — the world’s biggest economies, including the United States, China and Russia.

Ishiba and Starmer agreed to launch the so-called “economic 2+2” talks between their foreign and economic ministers “to further advance bilateral cooperation, in the field of economy including trade and economic security.”

“The two leaders shared the view that achieving strong economic growth is a common priority,” said a Japanese foreign ministry statement issued after the meeting.

While the statement did not mention Trump, Japan’s Nikkei business daily said the countries would use their new forum to explore strategies to dissuade Washington from tariffs.

Ishiba and Starmer also agreed to promote defense cooperation and “to continue to work closely together on various issues in the international community, such as the situation in East Asia and Ukraine.”

The pair, along with Italy, are developing a new fighter jet set to be airborne by 2035. (BSS/AFP)