Trump announces 'massive' Japan trade deal including 15 percent tariff
Photo:
AFP / Takumi Harada
US President Donald Trump has announced a "massive" trade deal with Japan, cutting a threatened 25-percent tariff to 15 percent ahead of a 1 August deadline.
Trump has vowed to hit
dozens of countries
with punitive tariffs if they don't strike a deal with the United States by next month.
So far, Trump has only announced pacts with Japan, Britain, Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia, while talks continue with other trade partners.
"We just completed a massive Deal with Japan, perhaps the largest Deal ever made," Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
Trump said that under the deal, "Japan will invest, at my direction, $550 Billion Dollars into the United States, which will receive 90% of the Profits."
He did not provide further details on the unusual investment plan, but said the deal "will create Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs."
Japanese imports into the United States were already subject to a 10-percent tariff, which would have risen to 25 percent on August 1 without a deal.
Duties of 25 percent on Japanese autos - an industry accounting for eight percent of Japanese jobs - were also already in place, as well as 50 percent on steel and aluminum.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Wednesday in Tokyo that the autos levy was cut to 15 percent.
"We are the first (country) in the world to reduce tariffs on automobiles and auto parts, with no limits on volume," he told reporters.
"We think it is a great achievement that we were able to get the largest cut (in tariffs) among countries which have trade surpluses with the US," he said.
This sent Japanese auto stocks soaring on Wednesday, including Toyota which rocketed more than 12 percent.
US-bound shipments of Japanese cars tumbled 26.7 percent in June, stoking fears that Japan could fall into a technical recession.
Last year vehicles accounted for around 28 percent of Japan's 21.3 trillion yen (NZ$241.2 billion) of exports to the world's biggest economy.
To Trump's annoyance, US-made cars sell poorly in Japan, with only hundreds sold annually for the likes of General Motors, compared to millions of Toyotas bought by US motorists.
The US president also wanted Japan to increase imports of rice, the price of which has soared in recent months in the Asian giant, and of US oil and gas.
But Trump said Tuesday that Japan has agreed to "open their Country to Trade including Cars and Trucks, Rice and certain other Agricultural Products, and other things".
Rice imports are a sensitive issue in Japan, and Ishiba's government - which
lost its upper house majority
in elections on Sunday - had previously ruled out any concessions.
Ishiba, whose future is uncertain following the election, said on Wednesday that the deal does not sacrifice Japan's agricultural sector.
Trump has been under pressure to wrap up trade pacts after promising a flurry of deals ahead of his 1 August tariff deadline.
Earlier on Tuesday, he announced a deal had been reached with the Philippines which would see the country face 19 percent tariffs on its exports.
The White House also laid out details of a deal with Indonesia, which would see it ease critical mineral export restrictions and also face a 19 percent tariff, down from a threatened 32 percent.
Indonesian goods deemed to have been transshipped to avoid higher duties elsewhere, however, will be tariffed at 40 percent, a US official told reporters Tuesday.
After an escalatory tit-for-tat with China, the two major economies agreed to a temporary lowering of tariffs, with another round of negotiations expected next week in Stockholm.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has imposed a sweeping 10 percent tariff on allies and competitors alike, alongside steeper levels on steel, aluminum and autos.
Legal challenges to Trump's non-sectoral tariffs are ongoing.
- AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NZ Herald
29 minutes ago
- NZ Herald
Trump administration targets Harvard's foreign student programme in latest investigation
Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech. Trump launched an investigation into Harvard's visa sponsorship programme. Photo / Getty Images US President Donald Trump's administration has launched an investigation into Harvard University's ability to sponsor visiting students and academics, part of a continuing crackdown on the elite institution. Since taking office in January, Trump has repeatedly accused Harvard and other top US universities of having a 'liberal' bias, accusing some of 'antisemitism' to cut federal funding and demand greater oversight. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the latest investigation would examine whether the university was complying with regulations in the Exchange Visitor Programme. That included probing whether the university was 'conducting their programmes in a manner that does not undermine the foreign policy objectives or compromise the national security interests of the United States'. 'The American people have the right to expect their universities to uphold national security, comply with the law, and provide safe environments for all students,' he said in a statement.
NZ Herald
an hour ago
- NZ Herald
World's top court paves way for climate reparations
Campaigners and countries on the climate frontlines hailed a milestone moment in the fight for accountability from big polluters most responsible for global warming. Ralph Regenvanu, the climate change minister for Vanuatu, the small Pacific island nation which spearheaded the case at The Hague, was jubilant. Speaking to AFP outside the court, Regenvanu said it was 'a very strong opinion at the end' and better than hoped. 'We can use these arguments when we talk with our partners, some of the high-emitting states. We can say you have a legal obligation to help us,' he said. 'This helps us in our arguments. It's going to give us a lot more leverage... in all negotiations.' Catalyst for change This was the biggest case in ICJ history, and seen as the most consequential in a recent string of landmark climate rulings. The United Nations had tasked the 15 judges at the ICJ, a UN court in The Hague that adjudicates disputes between nations, to answer two fundamental questions. First: what must states do under international law to protect the environment from greenhouse gas emissions for the future? Second: what are the consequences for states whose emissions have caused environmental harm, especially to vulnerable low-lying island states? In a detailed summary of the opinion, Iwasawa said the climate 'must be protected for present and future generations'. The adverse effect of a warming planet 'may significantly impair the enjoyment of certain human rights, including the right to life', he added. Legal and climate experts said the opinion, while not legally binding, could have far-reaching consequences for national courts, legislation and public debate. 'The court's clear and detailed articulation of state obligations will be a catalyst for accelerated climate action and unprecedented accountability,' David Boyd, a former UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, told AFP. Johan Rockstrom, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, said the ruling bound all nations by international law to prevent harm from emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases. The court was 'pointing the direction for the entire world and making clear that every nation is legally obliged to solve the climate crisis', he told AFP. Classroom to court Courts have become a key battleground for climate action as frustration has grown over sluggish progress toward curbing planet-warming pollution from fossil fuels. The Paris Agreement, struck through the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), has rallied a global response to the crisis, but not at the speed necessary to protect the world from dangerous overheating. The journey to The Hague began six years ago with students from the climate-imperilled Pacific region fed up with the lack of accountability for the damage afflicting their homelands. The fight pitted major wealthy economies against the smaller, less developed states, which are most at the mercy of a warming planet. More than 100 nations and groups made submissions in The Hague, many from the Pacific who gave impassioned appeals in colourful traditional dress. 'It's such a perfect ending to a campaign that started in a classroom,' said Vishal Prasad, director of the student-led campaign that kicked off the case. 'We have now a very, very strong tool to hold power accountable, and we must do that now. The ICJ has given everything possible,' he told AFP in The Hague. John Kerry, the former US special envoy for climate change, said 'it should not take the stamp of international law to motivate countries to do what is already profoundly in their economic interests'. 'We shouldn't need another reason to act and accelerate action.' -Agence France-Presse
RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
EU heading towards 15 percent tariff deal with US, EU diplomats say
By Philip Blenkinsop , Reuters Photo: AFP / Brendan Smialowski The European Union is heading towards a trade deal with Washington that would result in a broad 15 percent tariff on EU goods imported into the US, avoiding a harsher 30 percent levy slated to be implemented from 1 August, two EU diplomats said on Wednesday. The rate, which could also extend to cars, would mirror the framework agreement the United States struck with Japan . Officials from the European Commission, which negotiates trade deals on behalf of the 27-nation bloc, briefed EU envoys on the state of talks with their US counterparts. US President Donald Trump would ultimately make any final decision on a deal, however. Under the outlines of the potential deal, the 15 percent rate could apply to sectors including cars and pharmaceuticals and would not be added to long-standing US duties, which average just under 5 percent. There could also be concessions for sectors like aircraft, lumber as well as some medicines and agricultural products, which would not face tariffs, the diplomats said. Washington does not, however, appear willing to lower its current 50 percent tariff on steel, they said. The Commission said earlier on Wednesday that its primary focus was to achieve a negotiated outcome to avert the threatened 30 percent tariffs. At the same time it planned to submit counter-tariffs on €93 billion (US$109 billion) worth of US goods to EU members for approval. A vote is expected on Thursday, though no measures would be imposed until 7 August. Germany supported the EU readying countermeasures, a government representative said. If Trump's 30 percent tariffs are implemented, EU diplomats also said there was broad support among European governments to activate wide-ranging so-called "anti-coercion" measures, which would allow the bloc to target US services and other sectors. The EU appears to be following in the footsteps of Japan, whose agreement with the United States is the most significant Trump has struck since launching his tariff offensive in April. European shares climbed around 1 percent, led by automobile stocks, following the US-Japan announcement. One stand-out feature of that deal was that the same 15 percent rate applies to cars, compared to the current US tariff of 27.5 percent, something the EU may want for its own auto exports. The US imported vehicles and automotive parts valued at more than US$55b from Japan last year. EU exports were €47.3b (US$55.45b). Far fewer US cars were sold into the EU or Japanese markets. EU officials say Washington has shown little sign of budging on car tariffs, but the Japan deal could hint at flexibility. "Whatever the Japanese got will become the minimum for the EU negotiating objectives," said Simon Evenett, professor of geopolitics and strategy at IMD Business School. - Reuters
