U.S. and Japan Advance Economic and Technology Policy Alignment through Fourth Economic Policy Consultative Committee Vice-Ministerial Meeting

Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Jose W. Fernandez and Commerce Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Marisa Lago met virtually with Japanese Senior Deputy Foreign Minister Akahori Takeshi and Vice Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Matsuo Takehiko for the 2024 vice-ministerial meeting of the U.S.-Japan Economic Policy Consultative Committee (the Economic 2+2) on September 26. The meeting reaffirmed U.S. and Japanese leaders' vision to maximally align our countries' economic and technology strategies. The participants discussed joint approaches to addressing non-market policies and practices, as well as joint efforts toward developing diverse and sustainable critical minerals supply chains, including through the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP). They also reinforced the importance of promoting and protecting critical and emerging technology, as well as expanding the global market share and commercialization of Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) technology.

To learn more about the U.S.-Japan Economic 2+2, see the most recent Joint Statement. To stay up to date, follow Under Secretary Fernandez on X: @State_E, LinkedIn: @State-E, and Facebook: @StateDeptE. For press inquiries, please contact: [email protected].