Trump: Japan deal reached with tariff rate set at 15%

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said he reached a trade deal with Japan that will set tariffs on Japanese imports at 15% and see the key American ally invest $550 billion into the US.

"I just signed the largest trade deal in history - I think maybe the largest deal in history - with Japan," Trump said at an event at the White House on Tuesday after announcing the deal on social media. "And that was done with Japan. They had their top people here and we worked on it long and hard and it's a great deal for everybody."

Trump said on Truth Social that the pact calls for Japan to "open their country" to US automobile imports, as well as additional agricultural imports including rice, without specifying further details. Trump has repeatedly zeroed in on auto trade as he criticizes trade imbalances with the country. Around 80% of Japan's trade surplus with the US is in cars and auto parts.


Additional details of the preliminary agreement with Japan - including, critically, if Japanese automobiles and parts would receive a carve-out from separate 25% tariffs - were not immediately available.

Japan's public broadcaster NHK said Washington would also lower the rate on the auto sector to 15%, citing an unidentified government official. Shares in Japanese carmakers jumped in Tokyo, with Toyota Motor Corp. rising more than 11%.

"Japan and the US have been conducting close negotiations with our national interests on the line," Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said in Tokyo. "The two nations will continue to work together to create jobs and good products."

Trump has previously announced trade frameworks without many specifics only for the White House to provide details days and weeks later, as terms are hammered out.

Trump indicated at the event with Republican lawmakers at the White House that he also expects to sign a deal on a joint venture with Japan to export liquefied natural gas from Alaska. White House spokespeople did not immediately respond to requests for more information.