Tokyo's Nikkei leads Asian rally after Japan-US trade deal
Tokyo stocks rallied with the yen Wednesday after Japan and the United States finally hammered out a trade deal to slash Donald Trump's tariffs, including those on the crucial car sector.
Investors were also cheered by news that Washington had reached agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines, stoking optimism that other countries will achieve deals to avoid the worst of the US president's levies.
Despite a lack of deals being made leading up to Trump's self-imposed August 1 cut-off date, equity markets have been on the march in recent weeks on optimism that governments will eventually get over the line.
Japan had been one of those yet to sign, despite a string of trips to Washington by trade envoy Ryosei Akazawa, dampening investor sentiment in Tokyo.
But Trump said Tuesday that officials had agreed to a "massive" deal that would include a 15 percent tariff on imports from Japan, down from the previously threatened 25 percent.
The pact also saw the 25 percent levy on autos -- a major export to the United States -- slashed to 15 percent.
"We just completed a massive Deal with Japan, perhaps the largest Deal ever made," Trump announced on his Truth Social platform.
"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 investment plan, but claimed the deal "will create Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs."
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said that he needed to examine the deal before commenting.
Akazawa wrote on X: "Mission accomplished."
Traders poured back into the market, pushing the Nikkei up more than two percent thanks to soaring automakers.
Tokyo and Mitsubishi rocketed around 12 percent and Nissan jumped more than nine percent.
The yen strengthened to 146.20 per dollar -- compared with close to 148 Tuesday. The unit had already enjoyed a recent tick-up after Ishiba vowed to remain in office despite a devastating weekend election loss.
Trump also hailed an agreement with Manila that will see the toll on Philippine goods lowered by one percentage point to 19 percent, while tariffs on Indonesia were slashed from 32 percent to 19 percent.
Shares in Manila and Jakarta rose.
The announcements boosted hopes that other deals could be in the pipeline before next Friday's deadline, though talks with the European Union and South Korea remain elusive for now.
Still, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he would meet his Chinese counterparts in Stockholm next week for talks, as a separate mid-August deadline approaches for US levies on Beijing to snap back to steeper levels.
Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong built on its 2025 surge to hit its highest level since late 2021, while Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore and Taipei were also well up. Seoul was flat and Wellington dipped.
The advances came after a broadly positive day on Wall Street where the S&P 500 hit another peak but the Nasdaq snapped a six-day streak of records.
Eyes are also on the release of earnings from Google parent Alphabet and other tech giants including Tesla and Intel.
© 2025 AFP
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Japan Times
6 minutes ago
- Japan Times
EU reaches broad tariff deal with U.S. to avert painful trade blow
The U.S. and European Union agreed on a hard-fought deal that will see the bloc face 15% tariffs on most of its exports, including automobiles, staving off a trade war that could have delivered a hammer blow to the global economy. The pact was concluded less than a week before a Friday deadline for U.S. President Donald Trump's higher tariffs to take effect and was quickly praised by several European leaders, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who called it "sustainable.' Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the deal Sunday at his golf club in Turnberry, Scotland, although they didn't disclose the full details of the pact or release any written materials. "It's the biggest of all the deals,' Trump said, while von der Leyen added it would bring "stability' and "predictability.' The euro advanced over all Group of 10 peers in early Sydney trading with the spot up 0.3% to 1.1773 after closing up 1% last week. The deal would leave EU exports facing much higher tariffs than the bloc would charge for imports from the U.S., with von der Leyen saying the aim is to rebalance a trade surplus with the U.S. But those kinds of tradeoffs in the agreement angered some European industry groups, with Germany's main lobby saying it "sends a fatal signal to the closely intertwined economies on both sides of the Atlantic.' Von der Leyen and Trump also differed on some of the key terms of the deal they announced. The U.S. president said the tariff level would apply to "automobiles and everything else,' but not pharmaceuticals and metals. Steel and aluminum "stays the way it is,' the U.S. president added, and drugs are "unrelated to this deal.' The chief of the EU's executive arm said later at a news conference that the 15% rate would be all inclusive, wouldn't stack on top of industry-specific tariffs and would cover drugs, chips and cars. Metals duties "will be cut and a quota system will be put in place,' she said. "We have 15% for pharmaceuticals. Whatever the decisions later on is, of the president of the U.S., how to deal with pharmaceuticals in general globally, that's on a different sheet of paper,' von der Leyen said, adding that the overall rate "is not to be underestimated but it was the best we could get.' The EU agreed to purchase $750 billion in American energy products, invest $600 billion in the U.S. on top of existing expenditures, open up countries' markets to trade with the U.S. at zero tariffs and purchase "vast amounts' of military equipment, Trump said. Von der Leyen said no decisions have been made on European wine and spirits, but the matter would be sorted out soon. Key to getting the 15% rate to apply to pharmaceuticals and semiconductors was the bloc's promise to make U.S. investments, according to people familiar with the matter. Ahead of the meeting, the EU was expecting a 15% charge on its imports to also apply to most pharmaceuticals. The products had been one of the negotiation's main sticking points. Without a deal, Bloomberg Economics estimated that the total U.S. average effective tariff rate would rise to nearly 18% on Aug. 1 from 13.5% under current policies. The new deal brings that number down to 16%. For months, Trump has threatened most of the world with high tariffs with the goal of shrinking U.S. trade deficits. But the prospect of those duties — and Trump's unpredictable nature — put world capitals on edge. In May, he threatened to impose a 50% duty on nearly all EU goods, adding pressure that accelerated negotiations, before lowering that to 30%. The transatlantic pact removes a major risk for markets and the global economy — a trade war involving $1.7 trillion worth of cross-border commerce — even though it means European shipments to the U.S. are getting hit with a higher tax at the border. The goals, Trump said, were more production in the U.S. and wider access for American exporters to the European market. Von der Leyen acknowledged part of the drive behind the talks was a reordering of trade, but cast it as beneficial for both sides. "The starting point was an imbalance,' von der Leyen said. "We wanted to rebalance the trade we made, and we wanted to do it in a way that trade goes on between the two of us across the Atlantic, because the two biggest economies should have a good trade flow.' The announcement capped off months of often tense shuttle diplomacy between Brussels and Washington. The two sides appeared close to a deal earlier this month when Trump made his 30% threat. The EU had prepared to put levies on about €100 billion ($117 billion) — about a third of American exports to the bloc — if a deal wasn't reached and Trump followed through on his warning. U.S. and European negotiators had been zeroing in on an agreement this past week, and the decision for von der Leyen to meet Trump at his signature golf property brought the standoff to a dramatic conclusion. Officials had discussed terms for a quota system for steel and aluminum imports, which would face a lower import tax below a certain threshold and would be charged the regular 50% rate above it. The EU had also been seeking quotas and a cap on future industry-specific tariffs. The EU for weeks indicated a willingness to accept an unbalanced pact involving a reduced rate of around 15%, while seeking relief from levies on industries critical to the European economy. The U.S. president has also imposed 25% duties on cars and double that rate on steel and aluminum, as well as copper. Several exporters in Asia, including Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan, have negotiated reciprocal rates between 15% to 20%, and the EU saw Japan's deal for 15% on autos as a breakthrough worth seeking as well. Washington's talks also continue with Switzerland, South Korea and Taiwan. Trump said he is "looking at deals with three or four other countries' but "for the most part' others with smaller economies or less significant trading relationships with the U.S. would receive letters simply setting tariff rates. Trump announced a range of tariffs on almost all U.S. trading partners in April, declaring his intent to revive domestic manufacturing, help pay for a massive tax cut and address economic imbalances he has said are detrimental to U.S. workers. He put them on pause a week later when investors panicked. Trump's decades-old complaints about the global trading system heap particularly sharp scorn on the EU, which he has accused of being formed to "screw' the U.S. The bloc was established in the years following World War II in order to establish economic stability on the continent. The president has lashed out at nontariff barriers for American companies to do business across the 27-nation bloc. Those include the EU's value-added tax, levies on digital services, and safety and environmental regulations. Weeks of negotiations tested the EU's willingness to digest what is seen as an asymmetrical outcome, a senior EU diplomat said, but one that offers an opportunity to continue the talks without escalating further.
Nikkei Asia
36 minutes ago
- Nikkei Asia
US and EU agree to 15% tariffs, $600bn in investments from Europe
TURNBERRY, Scotland (Reuters) -- The United States struck a framework trade agreement with the European Union on Sunday, imposing a 15% import tariff on most EU goods, half the threatened rate, and averting a bigger trade war between two allies that account for almost a third of global trade. U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the deal at Trump's luxury golf course in western Scotland after an hourlong meeting that pushed the hard-fought deal over the line. "I think this is the biggest deal ever made," Trump told reporters, lauding EU plans to invest some $600 billion in the United States and dramatically increase its purchases of U.S. energy and military equipment. Trump said the deal, which tops a $550 billion deal signed with Japan last week, would expand ties between the trans-Atlantic powers after years of what he called unfair treatment of U.S. exporters. Von der Leyen, describing Trump as a tough negotiator, said the 15% tariff applied "across the board," later telling reporters it was "the best we could get." "We have a trade deal between the two largest economies in the world, and it's a big deal. It's a huge deal. It will bring stability. It will bring predictability," she said. The deal, which Trump said calls for $750 billion of EU purchases of U.S. energy in coming years and "hundreds of billions of dollars" of arms purchases, likely spells good news for a host of EU companies, including Airbus, Mercedes-Benz and Novo Nordisk, if all the details hold. The baseline 15% tariff will still be seen by many in Europe as too high, compared with Europe's initial hopes to secure a zero-for-zero tariff deal, though it is better than the threatened 30% rate. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz welcomed the deal, saying it averted a trade conflict that would have hit Germany's export-driven economy and its large auto sector hard. German carmakers Volkswagen, Mercedes and BMW were some of the hardest hit by the 27.5% U.S. tariff on car and parts imports now in place. But Bernd Lange, the German Social Democrat who heads the European Parliament's trade committee, said the tariffs were imbalanced and the hefty EU investment earmarked for the U.S. would likely come at the bloc's own expense. The euro rose around 0.2% against the dollar, sterling and yen within an hour of the deal's being announced. The deal mirrors key parts of the framework accord reached by the U.S. with Japan last week, but like that deal, it leaves many questions open, including tariff rates on spirits, a highly charged topic for many on both sides of the Atlantic. Carsten Nickel, deputy director of research at Teneo, said it was "merely a high-level, political agreement" that could not replace a carefully hammered-out trade deal: "This, in turn, creates the risk of different interpretations along the way, as seen immediately after the conclusion of the U.S.-Japan deal." "We are agreeing that the tariff ... for automobiles, and everything else will be a straight-across tariff of 15%," Trump said, but he quickly added that a 50% U.S. tariff on steel and aluminum will remain in place. Von der Leyen said that tariff would be cut and replaced with a quota system. Von der Leyen said the rate also applied to semiconductors and pharmaceuticals, and there would be no tariffs from either side on aircraft and aircraft parts, certain chemicals, certain generic drugs, semiconductor equipment, some agricultural products, natural resources, and critical raw materials. Trump appeared to suggest pharmaceuticals would not be covered, leaving some question about that aspect of the deal. No fact sheet was immediately issued by the White House. "We will keep working to add more products to this list," von der Leyen said, adding that spirits were still under discussion. Eric Winograd, chief economist at AllianceBernstein in New York, noted the similarity with Japan's U.S. deal. "We will need to see how long the sides stick to the deal. From a market perspective, it is reassuring in the sense that having a deal is better than not having a deal," he said. The deal will be sold as a triumph for Trump, who is seeking to reorder the global economy and reduce decades-old U.S. trade deficits, and has already reached similar framework accords with Britain, Japan, Indonesia and Vietnam, although his administration has not hit its goal of "90 deals in 90 days." He has periodically railed against the European Union, saying it was "formed to screw the United States" on trade. Arriving in Scotland, Trump said the EU wanted "to make a deal very badly" and said, as he met von der Leyen, that Europe had been "very unfair to the United States." Trump has fumed for years about the U.S. merchandise trade deficit with the EU, which in 2024 reached $235 billion, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The EU points to the U.S. surplus in services, which it says partially redresses the balance. Now he argues, his tariffs are bringing in "hundreds of billions of dollars" of revenues for the U.S., while dismissing warnings from economists about the risk of inflation. On July 12, Trump threatened to apply a 30% tariff on imports from the EU starting on Aug. 1, after weeks of negotiations with the major U.S. trading partners failed to reach a comprehensive trade deal. The EU had prepared countertariffs on 93 billion euros ($109 billion) of U.S. goods in the event there was no deal, and Trump made good his 30% tariff threat. Some member states had also pushed for the bloc to use its most powerful trade weapon, the Anti-Coercion Instrument, to target U.S. services in the event of a no-deal.
The Mainichi
36 minutes ago
- The Mainichi
Opinion: Japan needs true vision of peace toward next 80 years
HIROSHIMA (Kyodo) -- In 1979, a Harvard University Professor and American sociologist, the late Ezra Vogel, published a book that became a runaway bestseller in both Japan and the United States. While most commentators at the time focused on its eye-catching main title, "Japan as Number One," the subtitle was equally compelling: Lessons for America. Vogel at times joked that his book had sold for the wrong reasons. He had tried to understand and explain the societal forces behind Japan's economic miracle, but an even stronger motivation had been his alarm at America's decline. He thought it was Japanese society as a whole that carried lessons for America. Living in Japan, I find myself periodically revisiting Vogel's book, reflecting on its ongoing relevance for our times. As America moves in directions unknown to its allies, enemies and maybe even to itself, what lessons might he have drawn for Japan today? He would start with a reality check of Japan's deep-rooted challenges: a region fraught with geopolitical tensions, the constant risk of large-scale natural disasters, an aging and declining population and other woes. Yet he would also be the first to remind of Japan's strengths, such as its peace credentials, its resilient democracy and rule of law, its educated population, its safety, world-class cultural traditions and public institutions. In light of the political and societal changes unfolding in the United States, however, I believe there are at least three immediate areas where Japan needs to significantly speed up its transformation. These are in peace diplomacy, higher education, and environmental sustainability. How can Japan maintain its peace credentials in a period of increasing security threats and military buildup in the region? How can it ensure its own protection and safeguard alliances, while at the same time preserving the Peace Constitution's legacy? How can it control a rising military budget without damaging the country's social fabric at a time of competing national expenditures? My peace activist friends in Hiroshima often criticize their government for not providing meaningful leadership in nuclear disarmament negotiations. On the other hand, considering Japan is under the nuclear umbrella of the United States, the government's stance is bound to be, at best, a difficult balancing act. Despite such constraints, Japan can do more to articulate its own unique and genuine vision of peace. Tokyo remains far too deferential to Washington. As times change, the world needs a more independent expression of what Japan means when it says peace. As to higher education, Japanese universities lag significantly in global rankings, with its best performer, the University of Tokyo, currently at around 28th. Despite decades of policies to consolidate and internationalize, the sector struggles to attract foreign talent. Japan's affordable higher education and attractive culture and society could be strong draws for international students, particularly at a time when many worry about the U.S. administration's policies on student visas and unsettling moves to muzzle academic freedoms. Yet language barriers and a lack of professional opportunities for foreign graduates remain daunting. I have worked with many bright students in Japan who ultimately, and reluctantly, left the country after graduation to settle elsewhere. This is a great loss. Japan needs to attract and keep foreign graduates and young professionals, helping them integrate much more easily. Language acquisition is key. Finally, it is clear that the current U.S. administration has decided to abdicate its environmental leadership role. Japan can step in to fill the gap but currently punches far below its weight: in a 2024 OECD survey of 30 countries, Japan ranked 23rd in sustainability. Despite technological prowess and a vast potential for renewable energy from geothermal, solar, and tidal sources, it is still highly dependent on fossil fuels for its energy needs. While ordinary citizens diligently sort out the mountains of plastic waste the country produces, groundbreaking innovation in waste management or the circular economy still seem in the distant future. Efforts to decarbonize infrastructure and promote green architecture lag, and the promised green revolution advances more at a crawl. For a country that seamlessly marries high-end technology with mottainai and wabi-sabi traditions, Japan is a natural source of leadership in addressing environmental threats. It should seize the chance. Eighty years after the war Japan has overcome many challenges, but it cannot remain as it is. To paraphrase the main character in "The Leopard" by author Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, "For things to remain the same, everything must change." (Nassrine Azimi, a co-founder of a global initiative called Green Legacy Hiroshima which promotes peace through atomic-bombed trees, was an original member of the U.N. Institute for Training and Research and served as the first director of its Hiroshima Office.)
