After failing to cut a trade deal with Japan following weeks of talks, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer decided to turn up the pressure.When Japanese officials arrived in Washington in late May,

US President Donald Trump cast doubt on reaching a trade deal with Japan, a day after threatening higher tariffs on Japanese exports to the United States, claiming the country won’t buy American rice.

U S President Donald Trump has threatened to impose a "30% or 35%" tariff on Japan if a deal between the two countries is not reached before a deadline next week. That would be well above the 24% tariff Japan was hit with as part of Trump's so-called "Liberation Day" on 2 April, when he announced steep import duties on countries around the world.