Trump Threatens 30%, 35% Tariffs on Japan; Says Some Countries Will Face Embargo
President Donald Trump expressed pessimism about reaching a trade deal with Japan, and suggested that the tariff rate would be higher than the 24% country-specific rate briefly in effect April 9 in comments to reporters traveling on Air Force One July 1.
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He was asked if he would extend the 10% reciprocal rate past July 8, and he said he wasn't thinking that way, then started talking about stalled talks with Japan.
Cars and car parts, which accounted for a third of Japan's exports to the U.S. in 2023, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity, are subject to 25% tariffs. In 2023, the U.S. imported $40.9 billion worth of Japanese cars, and Japan imported $1.25 billion worth of U.S.-built vehicles.
Trump said that Japan had not imported even "one [American] car in 10 years."
According to West Coast Shipping, the imbalance isn't due to tariffs -- Japan has no tariffs on imported cars, where the U.S. had a 2.5% rate before this year -- but different consumer preferences, differing safety standards, as well as the fact that Japan uses steering wheels on the right side of the car, which may not be worth it for U.S. factories to produce.
"I’m not sure we’re going to make a deal -- I doubt it with Japan, they’re very tough," Trump said. He said Japan and other countries have been spoiled over the decades, which makes it hard for them to make concessions. He said that before July 9, he will send Japanese officials a letter, which would say, in part, "you know you can't do the things we need, therefore you'll pay 30%, 35% or whatever the number is that we determine, because we also have a very big trade deficit with Japan."
"They won't take rice, and yet they desperately need rice," Trump said. "I figured that was an easy one."
Reuters reported that Japan is not open to removing its protection of its rice farmers, one of Trump's demands. "We are not thinking about doing anything that would sacrifice the farm sector," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told a press conference in Tokyo.
The president sounded more optimistic about reaching a deal with India in the same conversation with reporters. "It’s going to be a deal where we’re able to go in and compete. Right now, India doesn’t accept anybody in," Trump said.
The Indian press said that dairy imports from the U.S. are a sticking point.
In addition to the threats of higher tariffs on Japan, Trump suggested some countries would face an import embargo. He said: "Some countries we won't even allow to trade."