Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Tuesday said it is “truly regrettable” that the United States will impose a 25 percent tariff on Japanese exports from 1 August, a move announced by President Donald Trump. Tokyo has set up a cabinet-level task force to limit the economic fallout and keep negotiations alive before the deadline. Japan’s top tariff negotiator, Economic Revitalization Minister Ryosei Akazawa, has intensified contacts with Washington. Akazawa held two phone conversations with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on 3 and 5 July and spoke with him again for about 40 minutes on 8 July. Later the same day, he spent roughly 30 minutes on the line with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. According to Japan’s government, the ministers confirmed they would “continue vigorous and in-depth” discussions, with Akazawa warning that a 25 percent duty on automobiles—Japan’s core export—was unacceptable. The diplomatic timetable now pivots on Bessent’s travel plans. The Treasury chief will skip next week’s G-20 finance ministers meeting in South Africa but is expected to attend the U.S. National Day at the Osaka World Expo on 19 July—his first trip to Japan since tariff talks began in April. While the White House says no formal negotiations are scheduled during the visit, Tokyo is pressing for a ministerial meeting in Osaka to narrow differences before the tariffs take effect. Seven rounds of ministerial talks in Washington have so far failed to yield a compromise. With less than a month to avert the new duties, both governments say they remain committed to finding an agreement that protects what Ishiba called the “mutual interests” of the long-standing allies.