On Monday, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba stated that in 2019, the US and Japan signed a bilateral trade agreement, and at that time, Trump had confirmed that he would not impose additional tariffs on Japanese cars. This contradicts Trump's latest car tariffs, and Japan continues to express "serious concerns" about this.
Has Trump forgotten the "agreement" from six years ago?
During Trump's first presidential term, the US and Japan signed a bilateral trade agreement in 2019, mutually reducing tariffs on US agricultural products, Japanese machine tools, and other products, while avoiding the threat of the US increasing tariffs on Japanese cars.
Although the text of the agreement at that time did not include automotive trade, then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stated at a press conference that he had received Trump's assurance that the US would not impose "Section 232" national security tariffs on Japanese imported cars.
Abe publicly stated in front of Trump at the press conference after signing the agreement:
"During the period when the Japan-US trade agreement is faithfully implemented, tariffs will not be imposed on Japanese cars and car parts under Section 232 of the US Trade Expansion Act."
"Between President Trump and myself, this has been firmly confirmed, and no additional tariffs will be imposed."
However, this year, Trump's 25% tariff on all US car imports did not exempt Japanese cars.
Ishiba told the Congress, "Japan expresses serious concerns about the consistency between the latest US car tariffs and the 2019 bilateral trade agreement... We will continue to convey our position from this perspective (to the US)."
Japan will not terminate the US-Japan agreement.
Although Trump has announced a suspension of reciprocal tariffs on most countries (including Japan), the 10% benchmark tariff and 25% car tariff on Japan still remain. As cars are the pillar of Japan's export-oriented economy, Japan places particular importance on the issue of car tariffs.
Although the US car tariffs on Japan seem to have broken the "agreement" between Trump and Abe, Ishiba stated that Japan does not intend to completely terminate the 2019 bilateral trade agreement.
Japan's chief trade negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, visited Washington last week, initiating bilateral trade negotiations with the US, which may include discussions on non-tariff barriers and thorny exchange rate issues.
Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato plans to visit Washington later this week, and he is expected to discuss exchange rate issues with US Treasury Secretary Besant.