月: 2025年4月

1. Japan’s Economic Revitalization Minister Akazawa Ryosei is leaving for the US for the first round of negotiations on tariff measures introduced by President Donald Trump’s administration. After arriving in Washington, he will begin talks with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
2. Former US President Joe Biden has strongly criticized President Donald Trump’s administration for causing extensive harm during its first few months. The former president noted that the Trump administration has laid off many workers at the Social Security Administration. Biden said, “Fewer than 100 days, this new administration has done so much damage and so much destruction.”
3. The US Transport Department says it has withdrawn a grant for a high-speed railway project in Texas, dashing hopes Japanese bullet train technology would be used. Surging costs led decision-makers to label the project “unrealistic,” leaving its future uncertain.

1. The US government is investigating whether the country’s reliance on imports for semiconductors and pharmaceuticals could hurt national security. The Commerce Department says the probes, launched on April 1, also cover imports of chip-making devices and pharmaceutical ingredients.
2. Tokyo police have arrested four people for allegedly selling obscene images generated by artificial intelligence. Police say the arrests are the first clampdown on sales of images of this kind created by generative AI. They say the suspects, in their 20s to 50s, are alleged to have sold posters featuring indecent images of women through online auction sites around October of last year.
3. The British government announced on Monday that it would take additional measures to help businesses amid tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump. The measures are meant to help the several thousand companies that are impacted by the tariffs.

1. Japan’s Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru has indicated that he will not rush to conclude tariff talks with the United States. On Monday, Ishiba attended a Lower House committee held to mainly discuss the tariff measures of President Donald Trump’s administration. 2. US President Donald Trump has said he will announce tariff rates on semiconductors over the next week. He was speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Sunday. Trump said, “We’ll be doing that with semiconductors, with chips and numerous other things, and that’ll take place in the very near future.”
3. The World Expo in Osaka has opened in western Japan, with diverse exhibits highlighting the plight of war-torn Ukraine as well as the future of mobility. Ukraine’s deputy minister of economy Tetyana Berezhna and other government officials attended the opening of their country’s pavilion on Sunday. Berezhna said at the ceremony that her country’s message is short but very clear. She said she wants visitors to know about the values and thinking that Ukraine treasures.

1. US President Donald Trump is suspending most of the tariffs he calls “reciprocal” for three months, during which time they will be lowered to 10 percent. However, he is making an exception for imports from China. Trump explained his moves to reporters at Washington on Wednesday. He said: “They all want to make a deal. Somebody had to do what we did. And I did a 90-day pause for the people that didn’t retaliate.”
2. US President Donald Trump has again complained about his country’s security treaty with Japan. Speaking to reporters at the White House on Thursday, he noted, “We defend them, but they don’t have to defend us.” Trump suggested that when deals were made in the past, other countries took advantage of the United States.
3. US and Russian officials have met in Turkey to discuss ways of normalizing the operations of their countries’ embassies. The officials reportedly agreed to make it easier for diplomats to travel and receive visas.

1. Lee Jae-myung, former head of South Korea’s largest opposition party has announced he is running for president. South Korea is holding its presidential election on June 3 following the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk-yeol.
2. Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte have agreed to step up cooperation between their two sides in defense and other areas. In talks in Tokyo on Wednesday, Ishiba told Rutte the need for security cooperation among NATO and Indo-Pacific partners, including Japan, has increased even further. Rutte said he hopes to further strengthen Japan-NATO cooperation.
3. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says more than 150 Chinese citizens have joined Russian troops to fight against his country. Zelenskyy accused Russia of recruiting Chinese fighters via social media, and he said he believes Beijing is aware of this.

1. The United States has launched President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs” as scheduled. The measures are imposed on countries and regions with large trade surpluses with the United States. The levies came into force on Wednesday. Trump has already imposed a 10-percent baseline tariff worldwide from April 5. The rates will be raised for certain countries and regions based on the sizes of their respective trade surpluses with the US. The rate for Japan is 24 percent. 　　　　　　　　　　　　
2. Billionaire Elon Musk, who heads the US Department of Government Efficiency, and White House Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing Peter Navarro have exchanged barbs over tariff policy.　
3. The US Senate has officially confirmed George Glass as the new ambassador to Japan. The Senate approved his nomination by a majority vote on Tuesday. The former investment banker was picked for the post by US President Donald Trump. Glass is known to have been a major donor to Trump. He served as ambassador to Portugal for more than three years during Trump’s first term.

1. The South Korean government has officially decided to hold the country’s presidential election on June 3, following the removal of former President Yoon Suk-yeol from office. The date was set at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. It came four days after the Constitutional Court upheld Yoon’s impeachment over his short-lived declaration of martial law in December. 2. Japanese actor Hirosue Ryoko has been arrested on suspicion of injuring a nurse at a hospital. Police say she was arrested in Shimada City, Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan, early on Tuesday for allegedly kicking and scratching a female nurse. They have not said whether Hirosue has admitted to the charge.
3. Japan’s Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru has called on US President Donald Trump to drop a unilateral tariff policy and instead pursue a win-win approach for both countries. During a 25-minute phone call on Monday, Ishiba and Trump agreed that they will appoint ministers in charge of discussions and continue dialogue.

1. Japan’s Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru has expressed his intention to visit the United States if necessary at an early date amid rising concerns over the new US tariff policy.
2. Japan’s finance minister has urged investors to respond calmly to the ongoing stock market plunge. Kato Kastunobu was speaking to reporters after a brief halt in stock futures trading in Japan.
3. The Japan Coast Guard says an air ambulance may have ditched in waters off Nagasaki Prefecture, western Japan, as no major damage to the aircraft has ben detected. The helicopter is said to have lost contact with controllers about 10 minutes after leaving an airport on Tsushima Island for a hospital in Fukuoka Prefecture on Sunday. It was later found floating upside down.

1. US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs announced has sent global financial markets into freefall and weakened the dollar.
2. US President Donald Trump has indicated that Elon Musk will likely leave his administration in a few months. Musk heads the Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE. 3. NHK has learned that Japan’s antitrust watchdog has decided to impose fines on seven firms, including the advertising giant Dentsu Group, over suspected bid-rigging related to contracts for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

1. The Trump administration has now started charging an additional 25 percent tariff on all auto imports as scheduled. Trump insists that vehicles and parts have been imported at unfairly low prices, causing factories and jobs to flow out of the country. He’s suggested the new tariffs will be permanent.
2. Japan’s Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru has expressed regret over US President Donald Trump’s announcement to impose 24-percent reciprocal tariffs on imports from his country. Ishiba told reporters on Thursday that it is extremely regrettable and disappointing that the US government made the decision to impose the tariffs despite calls from Japan at various levels not to take the unilateral measure.
3. Japan’s Toyota Motor says it will not raise prices of its vehicles sold in the United States for now, despite US President Donald Trump’s additional 25 percent tariffs on auto imports.