Kyodo News Digest: July 24, 2025
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Japan, U.S. reach deal on reduced 15% auto, "reciprocal" tariffs
TOKYO/WASHINGTON - Japan and the United States have struck what President Donald Trump called a "historic" trade deal that will set tariffs on Japanese cars and other products at 15 percent -- lower than initially threatened -- and boost Japanese investment in the world's biggest economy.
The deal, first announced by Trump on social media Tuesday, capped off rounds of bilateral negotiations since mid-April, during which export-reliant Japan aimed for a win-win agreement ahead of an Aug. 1 deadline for Washington to impose a "reciprocal" 25 percent tariff on Japanese goods.
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Japan PM's resignation seen as inevitable, decision to come in Aug.
TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's resignation is seen as inevitable following the governing coalition's major setback in the House of Councillors election, lawmakers said Wednesday, adding that he will make a final decision on his future in late August.
Ishiba, who leads the Liberal Democratic Party, met with his predecessors to address the LDP's predicament after the ruling bloc lost its majority in both houses of parliament. Speaking to reporters, he dismissed media reports that he plans to resign.
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Japan, EU agree to boost economic security, defense cooperation
TOKYO - The leaders of Japan and the European Union agreed Wednesday on new initiatives to strengthen cooperation in economic security, trade and defense, amid uncertainty over U.S. tariff policies and China's growing military and economic influence.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a joint statement issued after their summit in Tokyo that they will establish a "Japan-EU Competitiveness Alliance" to collaborate in ensuring economic security and bolstering their industries.
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Business leaders laud Japan-U.S. trade deal, admit ongoing challenges
TOKYO - Japanese business leaders on Wednesday praised the government for reaching a trade deal with the United States under which tariff rates on Japanese cars and other products will be set at 15 percent, while acknowledging it will still cause hardship for firms.
"The persistent negotiations paid off," Yoshinobu Tsutsui, chairman of the Japanese Business Federation, the country's most powerful business lobby, also known as Keidanren, told reporters, adding that his group has "high regard" for the outcome.
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Man acquitted of 1966 murder case to file damages suit vs Japan gov't
SHIZUOKA, Japan - Iwao Hakamata, who was acquitted in a retrial over a 1966 murder case in Shizuoka Prefecture, plans to file a damages suit against the Japanese government and the prefecture over fabricated evidence by investigative authorities, his legal team said Wednesday.
His lawyers said at a press conference they plan to file the suit around the anniversary of the Shizuoka District Court's Sept. 26 acquittal of Hakamata, 89, in the murder of four members of a family. They have not decided the amount of damages they will seek.
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Senior "Luffy" crime group member gets 20 yrs over Japan robberies
TOKYO - A Tokyo court on Wednesday sentenced a senior figure in a crime ring that orchestrated robberies across Japan from the Philippines to 20 years in prison, marking the first conviction of a leading member.
Tomonobu Kojima, 47, was convicted of assisting in a robbery and other crimes remotely directed by the group, whose members used monikers such as "Luffy," the name of a popular manga character, and recruited perpetrators via social media.
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Sumo: Ichiyamamoto falls into share of lead, Onosato stays in hunt
NAGOYA - Rank-and-filer Ichiyamamoto suffered his second loss of the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament at the hands of veteran komusubi Takayasu on Wednesday, dropping him into a four-way tie for the lead at 9-2.
Grand champion Onosato, the lone yokozuna at Nagoya's new IG Arena after Hoshoryu's injury withdrawal, managed to beat Mongolian-born sekiwake Kirishima, leaving the two at 8-3 after Day 11 of the 15-day tournament.
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Split Japan antinuke groups, Hidankyo unite for 80th A-bomb anniv.
TOKYO - Two Japanese antinuclear groups that split during the Cold War issued a rare joint statement Wednesday to mark the upcoming 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, appealing for the people of Japan to carry the cities' message to the world.
The statement by the Japan Congress Against A- and H-Bombs, known as Gensuikin, and the Japan Council Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs, known as Gensuikyo, was also cosigned by Nihon Hidankyo, Japan's leading group of atomic bomb survivors and the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
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Yomiuri Shimbun
26 minutes ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
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TOKYO, July 28 (Reuters) – Japan's Nikkei share average erased early gains to trade lower on Monday, as investors locked in profits following a recent rally and shifted their focus to upcoming corporate earnings. As of 0217 GMT, the Nikkei was down 0.8% at 41,115.60, after rising as much as 0.2% earlier in the session. The broader Topix .TOPX slipped 0.45% at 2,938.55. 'Investors sold stocks to book profits from a recent rally; that's a short answer to today's declines,' said Seiichi Suzuki, chief equity market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory. 'But they sold stocks because the shares jumped last week, and were concerned that corporate earnings may not justify the current level of the equities.' The Nikkei climbed to a one-year high last week after Japan and the United States struck a deal to lower the hefty tariffs U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose on goods from Japan. Chip-related shares led the declines, with Advantest 6857.T slipping 7.66% to become the biggest drag for the Nikkei. Screen Holdings7735.T fell 7.24% after the chip-making equipment maker reported a 12.2% decline in its latest quarterly operating profit. The banking sector .IBNKS.T fell 1.78% to become the worst performer among the Tokyo Stock Exchange's 33 industry sub-indexes. Bucking the trend, Fanuc jumped 5.6% to become the top percentage gainer in the Nikkei, after the robot maker's latest quarterly operating profit jumped nearly 30%. The company also said that its forecast factored in the 15% U.S. tariff set to take effect on August 1. Of the more than 1,600 stocks trading on the TSE's prime section, 46% rose and 49% fell, with 4% trading flat.
Japan Times
33 minutes ago
- Japan Times
U.S., China to resume tariff talks in effort to extend truce
Senior U.S. and Chinese negotiators meet in Stockholm on Monday to tackle longstanding economic disputes at the center of a trade war between the world's top two economies, aiming to extend a truce keeping sharply higher tariffs at bay. China is facing an Aug. 12 deadline to reach a durable tariff agreement with President Donald Trump's administration, after Beijing and Washington reached a preliminary deal in June to end weeks of escalating tit-for-tat tariffs. Without an agreement, global supply chains could face renewed turmoil from duties exceeding 100%. The Stockholm talks, led by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, come right on the heels of Trump's biggest trade deal yet, with the European Union accepting a 15% tariff on its goods exports to the U.S. and agreeing to make significant EU purchases of U.S. energy and military equipment. That deal struck with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday in Scotland also calls for $600 billion in investments in the U.S. by the EU, Trump told reporters. No similar breakthrough is expected in the U.S.-China talks, but trade analysts said that another 90-day extension of a tariff and export control truce struck in mid-May was likely. An extension of that length would prevent further escalation and help create conditions for a potential meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in late October or early November. Spokespersons for the White House and U.S. Trade Representative's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on a South China Morning Post report quoting unnamed sources as saying the two sides would refrain from introducing new tariffs or take other steps that could escalate the trade war for another 90 days. The container ship OOCL Daffodil is docked at Yangshan Port outside of Shanghai, China, on June 17. | REUTERS Trump's administration is poised to impose new sectoral tariffs that will impact China, including on semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, ship-to-shore cranes and other products. "We're very close to a deal with China. We really sort of made a deal with China, but we'll see how that goes," Trump told reporters before his meeting with von der Leyen, providing no further details. Deeper issues Previous U.S.-China trade talks in Geneva and London in May and June focused on bringing U.S. and Chinese retaliatory tariffs down from triple-digit levels and restoring the flow of rare earth minerals halted by China and Nvidia's H20 AI chips and other goods halted by the United States. So far, the talks have not delved into broader economic issues. They include U.S. complaints that China's state-led, export-driven model is flooding world markets with cheap goods, and Beijing's complaints that U.S. national security export controls on tech goods seek to stunt Chinese growth. "Stockholm will be the first meaningful round of U.S.-China trade talks," said Bo Zhengyuan, Shanghai-based partner at China consultancy firm Plenum. Visitors pose for photos at a lookout in Yangshan Port outside of Shanghai, China, on April 15. | REUTERS Trump has been successful in pressuring some other trading partners, including Japan, Vietnam and the Philippines, into deals accepting higher U.S. tariffs of 15% to 20%. Analysts say the U.S.-China negotiations are far more complex and will require more time. China's grip on the global market for rare earth minerals and magnets, used in everything from military hardware to car windshield wiper motors, has proved to be an effective leverage point on U.S. industries. Trump-Xi meeting? In the background of the talks is speculation about a possible meeting between Trump and Xi in late October. Trump has said he will decide soon whether to visit China in a landmark trip to address trade and security tensions. A new flare-up of tariffs and export controls would likely derail any plans for a meeting with Xi. "The Stockholm meeting is an opportunity to start laying the groundwork for a Trump visit to China," said Wendy Cutler, vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute. Bessent has already said he wants to work out an extension of the Aug. 12 deadline to prevent tariffs snapping back to 145% on the U.S. side and 125% on the Chinese side. Still, China will likely request a reduction of multi-layered U.S. tariffs totaling 55% on most goods and further easing of U.S. high-tech export controls, analysts said. Beijing has argued that such purchases would help reduce the U.S. trade deficit with China, which reached $295.5 billion in 2024. China is currently facing a 20% tariff related to the U.S. fentanyl crisis, a 10% "reciprocal tariff" and 25% duties on most industrial goods imposed during Trump's first term. Bessent has also said he would discuss with He the need for China to rebalance its economy away from exports toward domestic consumer demand. The shift would require China to put an end to a protracted property crisis and boost social safety nets to encourage household spending. Michael Froman, a former U.S. trade representative during Barack Obama's administration, said such a shift has been a goal of U.S. policymakers for two decades. "Can we effectively use tariffs to get China to fundamentally change their economic strategy? That remains to be seen," said Froman, now president of the Council on Foreign Relations think tank.
Yomiuri Shimbun
an hour ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
North Korea Says South Korea's Overtures ‘Great Miscalculation'
SEOUL, July 28 (Reuters) – North Korea has no interest in any policy or proposals for reconciliation from South Korea, the powerful sister of its leader Kim Jong Un said on Monday in the first response to South Korean liberal President Lee Jae Myung's peace overtures. Kim Yo Jong, who is a senior North Korean ruling party official and is believed to speak for the country's leader, said Lee's pledge of commitment to South Korea-U.S. security alliance shows he is no different from his hostile predecessor. 'If South Korea expects to reverse all the consequences of (its actions) with a few sentimental words, there could be no greater miscalculation than that,' Kim said in comments carried by official KCNA news agency. Lee, who took office on June 4 after winning a snap election called after the removal of hardline conservative Yoon Suk Yeol over a failed attempt at martial law, has vowed to improve ties with Pyongyang that had reached the worst level in years. As gestures aimed at easing tensions, Lee suspended loudspeaker broadcasts blasting anti-North propaganda across the border and banned the flying of leaflets by activists that had angered Pyongyang. Kim, the North Korean official, said those moves are merely a reversal of ill-intentioned activities by South Korea that should never have been initiated in the first place. 'In other words, it's not even something worth our assessment,' she said. 'We again make clear the official position that whatever policy is established in Seoul or proposal is made, we are not interested, and we will not be sitting down with South Korea and there is nothing to discuss.' South Korea's Unification Ministry said Kim Yo Jong's comments 'show the wall of distrust between the South and the North is very high as a result of hostile and confrontational policy over the past few years.' South Korea will continue to make efforts for reconciliation and cooperation with the North, ministry spokesperson Koo Byoung-sam told a briefing. There has been cautious optimism in the South that the North may respond positively and may even show willingness to re-engage in dialogue, particularly after Pyongyang also shut off its loudspeakers, a move Lee said was quicker than expected. Still, Lee, whose government is in the midst of tough negotiations with Washington to avert punishing tariffs that President Donald Trump has threatened against a string of major trading partners, has said U.S. alliance is the pillar of South Korea's diplomacy. Lee said on the anniversary of the Korean War armistice on Sunday Seoul would make efforts in all areas to 'strengthen the South Korea-U.S. alliance that was sealed in blood.' North Korea also marked the anniversary which it calls victory day with events including a parade in Pyongyang, although state media reports indicated it was at a relatively lesser scale compared to some previous years. Columns of soldiers marched holding portraits of commanders including state founder Kim Il Sung with spectators and frail veterans in historic army uniforms in attendance in state media photos, which did not show major weapons as part of the parade. A formation of military jets flew over the Pyongyang Gymnasium square in the night sky trailing streaks of flares and fireworks. State media made no mention of leader Kim Jong Un's attendance. The two Koreas, the United States and China, which are the main belligerents in the 1950-53 Korean War, have not signed a peace treaty.
