TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s top tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, said on Saturday he planned to visit Washington next week to hold further ministerial-level talks with the United States.

Tokyo hopes to clinch a deal by an August 1 deadline that will avert President Donald Trump’s tariff of 25% on imports from Japan.

“I intend to keep on seeking actively an agreement that is beneficial to both Japan and the United States, while safeguarding our national interest,” Akazawa told reporters in the western region of Osaka.

Akazawa was visiting Osaka to host a U.S. delegation, led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, that participated in the U.S. National Day event at World Expo 2025.

Akazawa said he did not discuss tariffs with Bessent.

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by William Mallard and Clarence Fernandez)