Japanese opposition parties list bargaining chips for US-Japan trade negotiations: buying US bonds and importing cars made by Japanese companies in the US.

The leader of Japan's opposition party, the National Democratic Party, stated that holding long-term U.S. Treasury bonds and importing Japanese cars made in the United States could be used as leverage in trade negotiations between Tokyo and Washington. Yukio Edano, speaking in an interview on Thursday, said Japan could propose reinvesting the yields from maturing U.S. bonds into ultra-long-term bonds in exchange for tariff concessions. Although the National Democratic Party is small in size, it is influential. He stated that considering Japan's holdings of over $1 trillion in U.S. Treasury bonds, reinvesting them into long-term bonds would be "a huge support" and added that "the U.S. government does seem to be concerned about the interest rates on long-term U.S. bonds."