"A great honor to have just met the Japanese delegation for trade. Great progress!", Trump writes briefly on his platform Truth Social.
Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told reporters in Tokyo that his trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa, normally minister for economic revitalization, said to him that the talks were "very sincere and constructive."
Of course, the talks are not easy, but President Trump expressed his intention to make this negotiation a top priority, said Ishiba and emphasized that he closely follows how the talks proceed.
The negotiations with Japan are among the first to be held since Trump introduced his sweeping trade tariffs and are therefore closely followed by the rest of the world.
Trump announced earlier on Wednesday that he would personally participate in the first round of negotiations accompanied by the US Finance Minister Scott Bessent and Trade Minister Howard Lutnick.
Japan was subjected to a tariff of 24 percent before Trump paused his stronger tariffs against many countries for 90 days and instead left them at the lower level of 10 percent.
Japan, which has a large export-driven car industry, is also heavily affected by Trump's specific 25-percent tariffs on vehicles, steel, and aluminum.
The American central bank chief Jerome Powell warned in a speech on Wednesday that the trade war can fuel American inflation and reduce economic activity in general.
