Takeo Fukuda
Ushiba retired from the foreign service in 1973 and returned to Japan. He served as an advisor to the Foreign Ministry, and became more active in politics. In November 1977, Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda appointed him Minister of State for External Economic Affairs, a cabinet post that was created specially for him. Within two months, he negotiated and signed a major agreement easing trade tensions between the U.S. and Japan which was widely hailed. In 1978 and 1979, he led the Japanese delegation to the of GATT talks.