Having the world’s fifth-largest economy and a long and prosperous trade relationship with the U.S., Japan seemed like a likely candidate to quickly and neatly make a new trade-tariff deal with President Trump. But with the deadline now just six days away, Trump is now saying an agreement appears unlikely.
Despite progress with other allies on trade, the main reason a deal with Japan has not materialized is Japanese resistance to the American president’s 25% tariff on automobile imports.
The roadblocks remain even as a string of Japanese officials make pilgrimages to Washington on trade and security missions, primarily because the automobile industry is a key pillar of the Japanese economy—its companies, including Toyota, Honda, and Nissan, are among the world’s largest carmakers.
President Trump’s tariff on cars aims to facilitate Japanese imports of American vehicles in order to, in his view, balance the trade. In an interview on Sunday, Trump, describing a theoretical letter to Japanese officials, said: “Dear Mr. Japan, here’s the story. You’re going to pay a 25% tariff on your cars, you know? So we give Japan no cars. They won’t take our cars.”
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Author: Ray Hilbrich
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