US and Japan strike trade deal, avoiding Trump’s threat of 25% tariffs • FRANCE 24 English

So this deal then will create hundreds of thousands of jobs. There’s never been anything like it. That the push from Donald Trump as he announced a new trade framework with Japan that places a relatively modest 15% tax on goods imported from Japan. The rate 10% less than the planned increase that had been due in a week. Trump saying as part of the deal, Japan will open up its economy to American autos and rice. Japan’s prime minister saying the agreement will benefit both sides. Well, I’ll talk to our business editor, Sharp Elegan, in just a moment, but first, let’s hear from Donald Trump. I just signed the largest trade deal in history. I think maybe the largest deal in history with Japan and that was done with Japan. They had their top people here and uh we worked on it long and hard and it’s a great deal for everybody. I always say it has to be great for everybody. It’s a great deal, a lot different from the deals in the past. I can tell you that. But we’re doing really well as a country. We’re strong. Donald Trump there. Well, let’s bring in our business editor Charl Pelgrand. Then the United States um SH and Japan striking this deal ahead of the deadline August the 1st. It was set for set by Donald Trump. That’s right. Tokyo was facing the threat of a 25% tariffs on all of its imports on that date with the US president expressing frustration at the trade deficit with Japan as well as with issues with market access notably for US agricultural goods. Japan was keen on finding common ground so as to avoid a tariff rate which could have lowered its GDP by a percentage point this year. So let’s look at some of the main points of the deal as they’ve been announced by both sides so far. The new reciprocal tariff rate has now been lowered to 15% on all imports from Japan. The sector specific tariff for autoimp imports has also been lowered to the same level with Japanese Prime Minister Shigaru Ishiba adding that the US has also agreed not to impose any caps or limits to the number of auto imports from Japan to the US. There will also be a sizable $550 billion Japanese investment and loan package uh in the US. This is meant to help Japanese companies build up their supply chains inside the United States, thereby satisfying Trump’s objective of bringing more manufacturing back to the United States. The Trump administration also says the deal allows for Japan to increase the amount of US agricultural goods it purchases, notably rice. Japan, meanwhile, says it will nonetheless keep its tariffs on US agricultural goods as well as maintain a system which caps the amount of foreign agricultural goods on its market. Perhaps the most important component of the deal though is the agreement on auto tariffs. Would you say? This will obviously come as a relief for for Japan’s uh massive auto industry. Although it’s obviously worse for them than whatever the deal was before Trump returned to the White House. That sector represents a quarter of all of Japan’s exports to the US. And it’s all oneway traffic. This was particularly irritating to Trump. Last year, for instance, Japan exported $55 billion worth of vehicles and auto part parts to the United States. While meanwhile, the US manufacturers only exported $2 billion worth the other way. So, one man’s gain though is another’s loss, it seems. In this case, US car manufacturers have have already expressed outrage at the deal, saying that Japan’s 15% tariffs on autos is lower than the 25% tariff in place for Canada and Mexico’s auto industry, which are deeply integrated in the US’s big three auto manufacturer supply chains. Japan’s Prime Minister Shagaru Ishiba underlined that they’ve had the best deal so far when it comes to the auto sector. We have agreed to have the first additional 25% rate imposed since April this year on motor vehicles and automotive parts bringing the total including the existing rate to 15%. We are the first country in the world to achieve such a reduction in tariffs on motor vehicles and car parts without any limits on quantity. And sh this um deal with Japan does come as well at the back of other agreements with Asian nations. Mhm. Definitely a bit of clarity for trade emerging in that region which happens to be one of the world’s uh manufacturing bases. In addition to the deal with Japan, a separate agreement was struck with the Philippines for a lowered rate of 19% after President Ferd Ferdinand Marcos Jr. visited the White House. The Filipino leader calling the deal a significant achievement even if it’s just one percentage point lower than the threatened tariff of 20 and saying that the Filipino market will be tariff-free for US automobiles. Indonesia also benefit benefited from a similar 19% rate while Vietnam got 20%. Take us through the markets reacting to it. This has definitely uh boosted investors sentiment notably uh in Japan with the NIK closing considerably higher over 3 and a half% higher. Even South Korean stocks getting a boost on optimism that a deal will be struck between Washington and Soul soon as you can see the costly up 4/10en of a percent there. Chinese stocks, the Hang Sang in Hang Hong Kong up over a percent higher uh rising as Scott Bessant, the US Treasury Secretary said he’ll meet with Chinese counterparts for a third round of talks next week aimed at extending a tariff truce and widening discussions. And let’s finish by also looking at Japan’s largest automakers, the shares of Toyota, Honda, and Nissan all surging after this agreement. You can see Toyota there its share closing the session over 14% higher channel. Thanks very much.

After months of negotiations, the US has reached a trade deal with Japan. US President Donald Trump celebrated the agreement on tariffs in a social media post, while Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba hailed the deal, which sets duties on Japanese exports to the US at a rate of 15 percent. In this edition, we look at what exactly has been announced by both sides and what it means for Japan’s auto sector, which is responsible for a quarter of all exports to the US.
##Japan ##Tariffs ##Trump

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21 comments

  3. For those who don't know, Japan is struggling with rice crisis for the time. Still keeping protectionist policy for agricultural imports is a very dumb decision. US would be happy to sell a lot of it's agricultural products to ease Japanese consumers, but instead they not only don't use it as a negotiating bargain for lower tariffs but keep it while the country is burning rice like it had tons of it

  5. Trump's tarifs were supposed to bring a financial apocalypse. Fact they did not countries are negotiating new deals. American economy is fine, blue collar salaries are up, inflation is down, doge's working, foreign investments are up. Europe will make a deal like others, it has more to lose that the US.

  8. If you have to bully nations into investing into your nation, then the message is that maybe investing somewhere else would be preferable.

  9. "Something serious is happening in Japan right now. In last autumn's House of Representatives election, the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election last month, and the House of Councillors election held three days ago, the ruling party lost its majority and faced a disastrous defeat. Despite this, Prime Minister Mr. Ishiba refuses to take responsibility and clings to his position. This is akin to a baseball player who has struck out but kicks and screams, refusing to leave the batter's box; it is something that is simply unreasonable. Such a brazen and shameless Prime Minister is unprecedented in Japanese history. It is necessary to remove Mr. Ishiba from the position of Prime Minister to prevent Japan from heading in the wrong direction. I kindly ask the journalists to cover this issue and broadcast it to your country and the world! Please!"

  12. Japan has now been victimized a third time by the US….. During WW2, the unnecessary bombing of Japan with nuclear bombs, in the 1990’s with the devastating blow to the Japanese economy by signing the Plaza accord and now in 2025 with this bad trade deal. Japan is nothing more than a US puppet state. US has made Japan a farce of once a proud nation.

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  16. So now we can buy Mitsubishi/made only in Japan. But 15% is a bit much. A $30K vehicle will cost $34.5K. Will you still buy one? I would. But then, I drive a Mitsubishi and love it.

  19. The only tariffs that matter are the tariffs with India. In 2019 Trump 45 signed the Jedi Act with PM Modi. Since that time the Defense establishment has been offshored to India. Defense Consultants Contractors and Suppliers are running massive offshore operations out of India, $200 billion dollars a year according to Hindustan times.

    Now Trump 47 has signed the Expert Act with Modi over Valentine's Day, agreeing to Unlimited H-1bs in US Healthcare and the expansion of the AI industry out of the US back to India, with us taxpayers forced to pay for the AI blade warehouses and the energy guzzling consumption, while Tech data scaffolding will be accomplished in India in Chennai and Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore.

    "The Great Sucking Sound" US media will never speak of. 100% tariffs on anything India is the only way we can protect America's productivity

  20. Pretty sure Japanese will be happy about American rice because it is expensive in Japan, and when it comes to the auto industry, there will be almost no American cars in Japan because Japanese will not buy American cars.

  21. As a foreigner It’s hard to get my head around this level of stupid.
    $300B comes out of Americans pockets.
    The $550B investment fund is what by another name is called a load for which the Japanese get 10% return. “The Japanese are very happy with it” duh of course they are.
    Japanese car makers are paying 15% American car makers are paying 25% for the parts they need.

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