TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba plans to arrange a telephone conversation next week with U.S. President Donald Trump on tariffs, Jiji News reported on Saturday.

Ishiba was speaking on a television programme aired on Saturday, Jiji said, when he expressed his intention to hold direct talks with the U.S. leader.

Japanese products exported to the United States will be slapped with a 24 pct tariff as part of Trump’s plans, announced Wednesday, to impose reciprocal tariffs on imports from a host of U.S. trading partners.

“I will talk logically about how much Japan will benefit (the United States),” Ishiba said on television during a visit to Osaka, a city in western Japan. He said Japan will consider new investments in the United States.

He indicated that Japan has no plans to impose retaliatory tariffs against the United States, saying, “We will not go tit-for-tat.”

Ishiba said his government will take every steps to protect households from higher prices.

He took a cautious stance about cutting the consumption tax, saying that funding sources need to be considered if such a step is taken.

Reuters