Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said it is regrettable that the United States has imposed new tariffs on 60 countries and regions, including Japan, citing the absence of a ban on imports of products made with forced labor, even though Japan’s industry and trade comply with international rules. He added that last year’s tariff agreement between Japan and the US remains unchanged, and indicated the government will continue communicating with the US. Regarding the Sanae Takaichi administration’s positioning of the debt-to-GDP ratio as a core fiscal management target, he noted that major countries also use this metric and that it is meaningful for assessing fiscal sustainability. He said the government aims to achieve fiscal sustainability and secure market confidence by steadily lowering this ratio.