Japan trade minister will try to win exclusions from US tariffs this week

Good morning. We start with the Japanese trade minister’s visit to the US. Also in today’s newsletter:

Japan’s trade minister is heading to Washington in a last-minute attempt to win tariff exemptions after President Donald Trump questioned a long-standing security pact between the two nations.

Yoji Muto, minister of economy, trade and industry, is scheduled to meet his American counterpart Howard Lutnick on Monday, two days before the US is set to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all steel and aluminium imports.

The trip comes after Trump on Thursday said while the US had a great relationship with Japan, “we have an interesting deal with Japan that we have to protect them, but they don’t have to protect us”. In response, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told parliament on Friday that the security treaty was reciprocal.

The trade minister is expected to discuss exemptions from the metals tariffs, as well as a reprieve from a possible 25 per cent levy on car imports, which Trump threatened in February could come as soon as April.

As he departed Tokyo yesterday, Muto told reporters that he would use his first meeting with Lutnick to “build human relations” and offer suggestions that were “win-win for both the US and Japanese economies”, but did not elaborate.

Read more what US duties on Japanese cars — the countries biggest export — would mean for the Asia’s second-largest economy.

Here’s what else I’m watching:

• Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference National Committee: The annual session for China’s top political advisory body concludes today, while the National People’s Congress runs until tomorrow.

• Chinese retaliatory tariffs on US goods: Tariffs of 10 and 15 per cent will go into effect on a range of US food products.

• EU-India trade talks: Indian officials will gather in Brussels for negotiations on a proposed free trade agreement with the bloc.

Five more top stories

1. Ukraine will try to persuade the US to resume intelligence and military support in high-stakes bilateral talks this week by convincing Donald Trump that Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants a swift end to the war with Russia. Officials briefed on preparations for the negotiations in Saudi Arabia said Kyiv was set to propose a partial ceasefire with Russia. Here’s what we know about the upcoming talks.

2. Wealthy Chinese investors are quietly funnelling tens of millions of dollars into private companies controlled by Elon Musk using an arrangement that shields their identities from public view, according to asset managers and investors involved in the transactions. Read the full story.

3. Hundreds of people have been killed in Syria after clashes between pro-government and pro-Assad forces escalated into violence, drawing furious condemnation from the US. Many of those targeted were Alawites, members of a minority sect to which former president Bashar al-Assad belongs. The violence has become the greatest threat to the country’s stability since Assad was ousted in December.

4. Beijing will impose tariffs of up to 100 per cent on Canadian agricultural and food products in retaliation for levies on Chinese electric vehicles. The move stokes greater uncertainty over the Canadian economy as Trump threatens to impose blanket duties on imports from its North American neighbour. Here are the products will be affected.

5. China’s consumer prices fell 0.7 in February, the first decline in 13 months. The fall was deeper than the 0.4 drop expected by economists in a Bloomberg poll. The National Bureau of Statistics office said the earlier than usual lunar new year holiday was the main reason for the decline. Keep reading.

Today’s big read

Private wealth management companies for the super-rich now manage trillions of dollars globally and are one of the fastest growing areas of finance. In Singapore alone the number of single family offices rose to 2,000 by the end of 2024 — a 43 per cent jump. They are also one of the least under­stood — or reg­u­lated. Read more on the hidden dangers of family offices.

We’re also reading . . . 

Chart of the day

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying hard to woo global investors, but India’s red tape and erratic enforcement of taxation have made countries like China more attractive. After calling out India’s “tax terrorism” one company was hit with an unexpected Rs250mn ($2.9mn) tax demand, which it is contesting.

Take a break from the news . . . 

In Melbourne, Elroy Rosenberg fell in love with high-class coffee and began a “career” as a specialty barista in a journey that took him to Paris and New York. In FT Weekend the one-time coffee snob shares how he turned his allegiance to cheap bodega coffee.