The leaders of Japan and Australia agreed Thursday on the need for closer cooperation on energy and security, as well as within the framework of a trans-Pacific free trade pact, amid concerns over the potential impact of higher U.S. tariffs.
In their first phone talks since Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese secured a second term on Saturday, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba expressed hope for closer cooperation, as the two nations face an increasingly severe environment, according to the government.
The U.S. tariff policy under President Donald Trump was among the topics discussed during the roughly 15-minute talks, according to the Japanese government.
Japan and Australia, as quasi-allies, have been strengthening their economic and security ties with concerns growing in the Indo-Pacific region over China's rise as a military power.
The two countries are members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, which entered into force in 2018 after the United States withdrew from the negotiations during Trump's first term.
© KYODO
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diagonalslip
business as usual..... whooooole lotta vowing going on. （⌒▽⌒）
Ricky Kaminski13
quasi-what??? Where did you get that one. What’s the quad then mate?
Where do you guys get this stuff? I really wanna know. Deliberate downplay of the relation, but why?
Can only speculate.