NIPPON



 

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi indicated Thursday that the country's additional purchases of U.S. defense equipment as announced by the U.S. government will be based on Tokyo's existing procurement policy, not representing a new initiative.

Regarding the Japan-U.S. trade agreement announced this week, the U.S. government has said that Japan agreed to buy billions of dollars' worth of defense equipment from the United States a year.

On this, Hayashi told a press conference, "We explained to the U.S. side our perspective on near-term defense equipment purchases based on our country's current defense buildup program."

The top government spokesman also said, "We gave our thoughts during the Japan-U.S. tariff negotiations from the viewpoint that Japan's purchases of U.S. defense equipment help correct the trade imbalances between the two countries as a consequence."

Japanese economic revitalization minister Ryosei Akazawa, also chief negotiator on tariff issues with the United States, has separately said that the trade agreement does not include defense-related outlays.