US President Donald Trump has announced the conclusion of a “huge” trade deal with Japan, including a significant reduction in tariffs on Japanese cars , while a compromise with the EU, Mexico and Canada by the August 1 deadline remains uncertain.
“We just closed a huge trade deal with Japan,” Donald Trump declared on his Truth Social platform, calling it “unprecedented.”
"Japan will pay reciprocal customs duties of 15% to the United States," the tycoon said, well below the 25% price increase that the archipelago risked suffering from August 1st.
Japan, though a key U.S. ally, is currently subject to the same basic U.S. tariffs of 10 percent applied to most nations , plus surcharges of 25 percent on automobiles and 50 percent on steel and aluminum.
The agreement with Tokyo will lead to the creation of "hundreds of thousands of jobs," Trump added, citing Japanese investments of "$550 billion" on American soil, without providing details other than that "90% of the profits will go to the United States."
"We consider it a great success to have achieved the largest reduction (in tariffs) among countries with a trade surplus with the United States," Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba congratulated the country. The announcement came while negotiator Ryosei Akazawa was visiting Washington for the eighth time. "Mission accomplished," he exulted.
(Unioneonline)
