The White House announced this week that President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe came to an agreement on two new trade deals: the United States-Japan Trade Agreement and the United States-Japan Digital Trade Agreement. While these deals are not yet final, both leaders expressed a desire to see the agreements ratified at the “earliest possible date.”

U.S. Travel applauds the cooperation between the U.S. and Japan: what’s good for trade relations is good for travel, especially in a market as lucrative to the United States as Japan. In 2017, Japan was the second-largest source market for overseas visitation to the U.S. with 3.8 million arrivals. These visitors spent $16.6 billion on goods and services while traveling in the U.S., creating a travel trade surplus of $12 billion.

Without this surplus, the U.S. trade deficit with Japan would have been a staggering 21% higher.

The Japanese market is incredibly important to inbound travel, and its growth should be a top priority. U.S. Travel commends the administration for taking steps to improve America’s trade deals, and Japan for being a reliable trading partner and ally in travel. We look forward to seeing this deal finalized soon.



In This The Itinerary
Tori Emerson Barnes is Executive Vice President, Public Affairs and Policy, at the U.S. Travel Association, the leading voice for all segments of the U.S. travel and tourism industry. Barnes directs the association's public affairs and external... View Profile ›

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