The important trading partners Japan and the United States have agreed on a customs agreement. According to US President Trump, tariffs of 15 percent are planned – and Japanese investments in the United States. It is cheered in Tokyo.
US President Donald Trump has announced the conclusion of a trade agreement with Japan. Trump said that they had agreed on “mutual” tariffs of 15 percent on his Truth Social platform.
Around two weeks ago, Trump Japan sent a customs announcement by letter. It stated that 25 percent tariffs will be raised on all imports from August 1st. This has now been lowered to 15 percent by the agreement.
Japan should invest more in the USA
Trump was satisfied with the conclusion. “We have just concluded a huge agreement with Japan, perhaps the largest agreement that has ever been concluded,” wrote Trump.
Japan will invest $ 550 billion (around 470 billion euros) in the United States on his “instruction”, the US President said. Details of these investments have not yet been known. Trump only said that 90 percent of the profit remained in the United States, where “hundreds of thousands of jobs” were created. In addition, Japan will open his markets for trading with the USA. This affects cars, trucks, rice and certain agricultural products.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said that his country concluded the best contract of all countries that had a trade surplus with the United States. “This is the lowest customs set among the countries that have trade surpluses with the United States,” said Ishiba.
Relief from Japan’s car manufacturers
The stock exchange courses in Tokyo increased vigorously in response to the announcement of the agreement. The 225 Value of Nikkei index is 3.5 percent in a late trade at 41,171 points.
The carmaker was particularly relief. The trade deal particularly drives the car sector, papers from car manufacturers are among the favorites. Industry leader Toyota rose by over 14 percent, and other car values also won double digits.
Japan’s chief negotiator Ryosei Akazawa had concentrated on the lowering of the auto tariffs, as this is Japan’s largest export sector in retail with the USA. According to Japan’s Prime Minister Ishiba, the agreement does not provide any quotas for Japanese cars that are imported into the USA. “We have led negotiations to protect what needs to be protected and to achieve an agreement that corresponds to the national interests of both countries,” said the premier.
Criticism of US car manufacturers
US car manufacturer General Motors, Ford and the Chrysler mother Group Stellantis criticize the agreement. Because it drops the tariffs on car imports from Japan to 15 percent, while the tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico would remain 25 percent.
“Every agreement that raises a lower customs for Japanese imports with practically no US share than for vehicles with a high proportion of North America in North America is a bad business for the US industry and the US automotive worker,” says the head of the American Automotive Policy Council, which represents the three Detroit carmakers. The background is that the US car manufacturers import auto parts from the adjacent states of Mexico and Canada.
Customs duties on steel and aluminum
According to the Japanese public broadcaster NHK, both countries have agreed to maintain current customs of 50 percent on steel and aluminum as part of their bilateral trade agreement.
The United States is the largest export market in Japan. Economists had estimated that Trump’s tariffs could reduce Japanese GDP by up to one percentage point.
Further Trade agreement With the Philippines
And the deal with Japan is not the only one that Donald Trump was able to announce: The United States has also agreed with the Philippines on a trade agreement. It is therefore planned for a slightly lower customs set for goods from the Philippines when Trump originally threatened the island state: 19 instead of 20 percent.
According to Trump, the Philippines do not collect tariffs on imports from the USA. On his social media platform, Trump announced after a meeting with the Filipino head Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Washington that the Philippines were given access to a free market and that the military cooperation between the two countries was strengthened.
