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Trump Says US Reaches Trade Deals with Japan, No Vote Needed

Reuters

   WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that the United
   States has reached initial trade agreements with Japan on tariff
   barriers and digital trade that will not require congressional
   approval.

   In a letter to the U.S. Congress released by the White House, Trump
   said that he intends to enter into the agreements "in the coming weeks"
   and was notifying lawmakers that the tariff deal would be made under a
   trade law provision allowing the U.S. president to make reciprocal
   tariff reductions by proclamation.

   "In addition, I also will be entering into an Executive Agreement with
   Japan regarding digital trade," Trump said in the letter.

   A spokesman for U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer could not
   immediately be reached for comment on the letter and the trade deals.

   Neither agreement would require a vote in Congress under the so-called
   "fast track" approval process. The Trump administration last year
   notified Congress that it would pursue negotiations with Japan under
   this method.

   But over much of the past year, the scope of talks have narrowed to
   exclude the automotive sector, which is the source of most of the $67
   billion U.S. trade deficit with Japan.

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