Japan shipping giant Mitsui O.S.K. to stop ordering Chinese LNG carriers
The operator of the world's largest fleet of LNG carriers will, instead, buy such ships from South Korean builders.
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Japan Today
5 hours ago
- Japan Today
Trump intensifies trade war with threat of 30% tariffs on EU, Mexico
U.S. President Donald Trump gestures to the U.S. flag flying on a new flagpole after stepping off Marine One returning from New Jersey at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 6, 2025. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno By Jarrett Renshaw and Bhargav Acharya U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to impose a 30% tariff on imports from Mexico and the European Union starting on August 1, after weeks of negotiations with the major U.S. trading partners failed to reach a comprehensive trade deal. In an escalation of the trade war that has angered U.S. allies and rattled investors, Trump announced the latest tariffs in separate letters to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum that were posted on his Truth Social media site on Saturday. The EU and Mexico responded by calling the tariffs unfair and disruptive while pledging to continue to negotiate with the U.S. for a broader trade deal before the deadline. The EU and Mexico are among the largest U.S. trading partners. Trump sent similar letters to 23 other trading partners this week, including Canada, Japan and Brazil, setting blanket tariff rates ranging from 20% up to 50%, as well as a 50% tariff on copper. Trump said the 30% rate was "separate from all sectoral tariffs," which means 50% levies on steel and aluminum imports and a 25% tariff on auto imports would remain. The August 1 deadline gives the targeted countries time to negotiate agreements that could lower the threatened tariffs. The spate of letters shows Trump has returned to the aggressive trade posture that he took in early April when he announced a slew of reciprocal tariffs against trading partners that sent markets tumbling before the White House delayed implementation. 'UNFAIR TREATMENT' But with the stock market recently hitting record highs and the U.S. economy remaining resilient, Trump is showing no signs of slowing down his trade war. The U.S. president promised to use the 90-day delay in April to strike dozens of new trade deals, but has only secured framework agreements with Britain, China and Vietnam. The EU has hoped to reach a comprehensive trade agreement with the U.S. for the 27-country bloc. Trump's letter to the EU included a demand that Europe drop its own tariffs, an apparent condition of any future deal. "The European Union will allow complete, open Market Access to the United States, with no Tariff being charged to us, in an attempt to reduce the large Trade Deficit," he wrote. Von der Leyen said the 30% tariffs "would disrupt essential transatlantic supply chains, to the detriment of businesses, consumers and patients on both sides of the Atlantic." She also said while the EU will continue to work towards a trade agreement, it "will take all necessary steps to safeguard EU interests, including the adoption of proportionate countermeasures if required." Mexico's economy ministry said Saturday it was informed the U.S. would send a letter during a meeting on Friday with U.S. officials. "We mentioned at the roundtable that it was unfair treatment and that we did not agree," the ministry's statement said. RATE FOR MEXICO LOWER THAN CANADA Mexico's proposed tariff level is lower than Canada's 35%, with both letters citing fentanyl flows even though government data shows the amount of the drug seized at the Mexican border was significantly higher than the Canadian border. "Mexico has been helping me secure the border, BUT, what Mexico has done, is not enough. Mexico still has not stopped the Cartels who are trying to turn all of North America into a Narco-Trafficking Playground," Trump wrote. China is the main source of the chemicals used to make fentanyl. According to the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, only 0.2% of all fentanyl seized in the U.S. comes from across the Canadian border, while the vast majority originates from the southern border. Mexico sends more than 80% of its total exported goods to the U.S. and free trade with its northern neighbor drove Mexico to overtake China as the top U.S. trading partner in 2023. The EU had initially hoped to strike a comprehensive trade agreement but more recently had scaled back its ambitions and shifted toward securing a broader framework deal similar to the one Britain brokered that leaves key details to be negotiated. The bloc is under conflicting pressures as powerhouse Germany urged a quick deal to safeguard its industry, while other EU members, such as France, have said EU negotiators should not cave into a one-sided deal on U.S. terms. Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, a senior fellow at the Brussels-based think tank Bruegel, said Trump's letter raised the risk of retaliatory moves by the EU similar to the flare-up between the U.S. and China that rattled financial markets. "U.S. and Chinese tariffs went up together and they came back down again. Not all the way down, but still down together," he said. Trump's cascade of tariff orders since returning to the White House has begun generating tens of billions of dollars a month in new revenue for the U.S. government. U.S. customs duties revenue topped $100 billion in the federal fiscal year through to June, according to U.S. Treasury data on Friday. The tariffs have also strained diplomatic relationships with some of the closest U.S. partners. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said last week that Japan needed to lessen its dependence on the U.S. The fight over tariffs has also prompted Canada and some European allies to reexamine their security dependence on the U.S., with some looking to purchase non-U.S. weapons systems. © Thomson Reuters 2025.
Yomiuri Shimbun
15 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Japan Eyes Huge Market with China Set to Resume of Japanese Beef Imports; Japan Govt Hopes to Nearly Double Beef Exports by 2030
With China expected to resume importing Japanese beef, it is a huge step forward for the Japanese government, which aims to increase exports of agricultural, forestry and fishery products. A Japan-China agreement on an animal health and quarantine took effect Friday, paving the way toward the resumption of Japanese beef exports to China. However, it is still uncertain when beef shipments to China will actually resume, as the two countries have to hold further discussions regarding product safety and quarantine procedures. China suspended imports of Japanese beef following an outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in Japan in 2001. In November 2019, the two countries signed an agreement on cooperation in animal health and quarantine, a necessary step before exporting livestock products. However, China did not take further steps to resume imports, so the agreement was not able to take effect. Ahead of resuming exports, Japan's food safety procedures need to be evaluated by China. It will also be necessary to finalize specific conditions for export products, such as the meat processing method and hygiene control. 'The conditions necessary to resume exports will depend on what the Chinese side asks for,' said an agriculture ministry official. 'It's still uncertain when we will be able to resume exports.' Japan's exports of agricultural, forestry and fishery products exceeded ¥1.5 trillion in 2024. The government set a goal to more than triple the figure to ¥5 trillion by 2030. While beef exports stood at ¥64.8 billion in 2024, the government hopes to almost double the figure to ¥113.2 billion by 2030. By country and region, the United States was the largest importer of Japanese beef at ¥13.4 billion in 2024, followed by Taiwan at ¥11.2 billion, Hong Kong at ¥8.4 billion and Cambodia at ¥6.7 billion. Exports of Japanese beef has nearly doubled compared to 2019 as a result of the surging global popularity of washoku Japanese cuisine. It has been pointed out that Japanese beef still reached China through Cambodia following China's suspension of its import. If China officially resumes importing Japanese beef, it will become possible for Japan to export the product directly to China, a massive market with a population of 1.4 billion. The resumption may drastically increase Japanese beef exports. 'As China has such a large population, there will be a high demand for Japanese beef,' said an official of the Japan Livestock Products Export Promotion Council.
Asahi Shimbun
17 hours ago
- Asahi Shimbun
Still no inkling on when beef exports to China will resume
Hiroshi Moriyama, center, the secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, greets Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Osaka on July 11. (Yoshinori Mizuno) Although Japan and China have cleared hurdles for a resumption of Japanese beef exports after a 24-year hiatus, it remains unclear when shipments will start. The two countries finally activated a key animal health and quarantine agreement on July 11. They ratified the accord in 2019. Officials in Tokyo noted that Beijing could yet again delay negotiations for political reasons. Thus, the latest development will only remove one major hurdle to the resumption of exports that have been stopped since 2001 following an outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), popularly known as mad cow disease. Hiroshi Moriyama, the secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, met on July 11 in Osaka with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, who said the animal quarantine agreement would go into effect that day. Moriyama also heads a multi-partisan group of lawmakers focused on Japan-China relations and after his meeting with He played up the agreement in a speech for an LDP candidate running in the July 20 Upper House election. '(The quarantine agreement) will lead to the resumption of exports to China for the first time in 24 years,' Moriyama said. Government sources said the LDP and prime minister's office had been pushing for diplomatic results that could help the party in the Upper House election campaign. China in late June agreed to resume seafood imports from Japan, except for 10 prefectures including Fukushima. It slapped a ban on imports in August 2023 after Japan began releasing tons of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the ocean. On July 11, Beijing approved the registration of three Japanese companies for exporting seafood to China. Government sources also said He provided an optimistic appraisal to Moriyama about future loans of giant pandas to Japan. China's push to improve ties with Japan is clearly linked with the increasing confrontation orchestrated by U.S. President Donald Trump with his tariff trade wars. A former ambassador to China speculated that Beijing was attempting to pull Japan away from the U.S. orbit because of uncertainties surrounding the direction of U.S. policy toward China. But with surveys showing the LDP facing a drubbing in the Upper House election, China might have to recalibrate its policy toward Japan if the ruling coalition loses its majority in the Upper House and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is forced to resign. And with this year marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, China is planning to hold a range of events to mark its victory over Japan, which inevitably will be used for propaganda purposes. That could unleash another round of anti-Japan sentiment lingering from the country's military aggression in China in the years leading up to and during the war. (This article was written by Nen Satomi and Haruka Suzuki in Tokyo and Ryo Inoue in Beijing.)
