President Donald Trump boasted Tuesday that he had made a “massive” deal with Japan that would generate “thousands of jobs” and billions of dollars for the U.S.
The president announced the trade framework – “perhaps the largest Deal ever made” – in a Truth Social post Tuesday, revealing that a 15 percent tax on goods imported from Japan had been agreed.
In the post Trump said Japan would invest “at my direction” $550 billion into the U.S. and would “open” its economy to American-made vehicles as well as “rice” and “other things.” But further details remained scant.
The 15 percent tax on imported Japanese goods is a significant drop from the 25 percent rate that Trump, in a recent letter to Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, said would be levied starting on August 1.
“This Deal will create Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs — There has never been anything like it,” the president posted on Truth Social, adding that the United States “will continue to always have a great relationship with the Country of Japan.”
“This is a very exciting time for the United States of America, and especially for the fact that we will continue to always have a great relationship with the Country of Japan. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Early Wednesday in Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Shigera Ishiba confirmed the new trade agreement, saying it would benefit both sides and help them work together. “The government was determined to protect national interests,” Ishiba told reporters, per the Wall Street Journal.
Trump’s announcement appeared to excite investors, with the benchmark Nikkei – the Tokyo stock market – climbing 2.6 percent to its highest in a year, with shares of automakers also surging.
Toyota grew by more than 11 percent, with Honda and Nissan both up more than 8 percent.
But American automakers were less buoyed with the deal, with concerns raised over low import levies from Japan, compared to tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico remaining at 25 percent.
Matt Blunt, head of the American Automotive Policy Council, said, “Any deal that charges a lower tariff for Japanese imports with virtually no U.S. content than the tariff imposed on North American-built vehicles with high U.S. content is a bad deal for U.S. industry and U.S. auto workers.”
