By Leika Kihara TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Tuesday that he would continue negotiations with the U.S. to seek a mutually beneficial trade deal, after President Donald Trump announced 25% tariffs on goods from Japan starting August 1.

Former currency diplomat Masatsugu Asakawa assures that Japan won't face U.S. pressure to strengthen the yen, despite President Trump's criticisms of trade surplus. While Trump pushes tariffs and trade changes,

When Japanese Premier Shigeru Ishiba first met Donald Trump in February, his plan to placate the protectionist president's long-held frustration with Tokyo on trade was a promise to invest $1 trillion in the United States.

Trump has now extended the deadline for negotiations to Aug. 1 and tinkered with his threatened tariffs, leaving the global trading system pretty much where it stood three months ago — in a state of limbo as businesses delay decisions on investments, contracts and hiring because they don’t know what the rules will be.

"Look, I don't think you can ever have enough pitching," Posey said. "So we'll just keep our options open for what might present itself."

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba pushed back against the idea there has been little progress in negotiations with the US on a trade deal as a deadline looms for a 24% across-the-board tariff to take force.

Japan must diversify trade ties beyond the U.S. market to mitigate risks and focus on partnerships with countries favouring free trade, Hirofumi Yoshimura, co-representative of the opposition Japan Innovation Party,