Japanese Finance Minister points to rifts with US over trade tariffs

Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso told US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that protectionism isn’t good, adding to tensions over trade policy between the two global economic powers.

US and Japan clearly differ on their trade policies, Aso told reporters on Friday in Washington after attending the G-20 meeting of central bankers and finance ministers. The finance minister, who is in charge of Japan’s currency policy, said he and Mnuchin discussed foreign exchange in the context of the global economy.

The divergence over trade was reiterated as the US tries to pursue bilateral negotiations to fix trade imbalances with other nations, while Japan