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Trump Says U.S. and Japan Reach Trade Deal 

The president says Tokyo will face 15% reciprocal tariffs instead of the 25% he had threatened while the nation invests $550 billion into the U.S.

New Subaru vehicles bound for shipment at a port in Yokohama, Japan, last week. PHOTO: TORU HANAI/BLOOMBERG NEWS

New Subaru vehicles bound for shipment at a port in Yokohama, Japan, last week. PHOTO: TORU HANAI/BLOOMBERG NEWS

The U.S. and Japan have struck a trade agreement, President Trump said in a social-media post Tuesday evening, saying he would set his so-called reciprocal tariffs at 15% for the country.

Under the deal, Japan will invest $550 billion into the U.S., Trump said in his post on Truth Social, writing the U.S. would receive “90% of the Profits” from the investments, without providing further details. Japan will also “open their Country to Trade including Cars and Trucks, Rice and certain other Agricultural Products,” Trump posted. 

While details are scant, Trump said at a meeting with Republican lawmakers at the White House that the Japan deal is the “largest trade deal in history—maybe the largest deal in history.” He added that the Japanese government would enter a “joint venture” for liquefied natural gas exportation in Alaska. The administration and gas industry have long sought to secure partners for a proposed export project in that state.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he received a report on the deal from his chief negotiator. 

“The government was determined to protect national interests,” Ishiba told reporters Wednesday morning in Tokyo.

The deal “will lead to Japan and the U.S. working together to create jobs, produce high-quality goods, and contribute to fulfilling various roles in the world going forward,” he added. 

Tokyo’s chief negotiator Ryosei Akazawa wrote “mission accomplished” on his personal X account, sharing a photo of himself pointing to a picture on a White House stairway depicting Ishiba in discussion with Trump during the G-7 Summit in Canada in June.

The 15% reciprocal tariff rate is lower than the 25% tariff that Trump threatened recently in a letter to the Japanese government. But it remains unclear if Japan will receive a break from separate national security tariffs, set at 25% for automobiles and 50% steel and aluminum.

Those tariffs, particularly the automotive levies, have been a sticking point in negotiations between the governments for months. Trump provided no detail on those industry-specific tariffs in his post, and the White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose about 2.5%, and Toyota Motor shares rose 11% on the news, with investors viewing the blow to Japan’s economy as less severe than feared. Cars are among Japan’s biggest exports.

Write to Gavin Bade at gavin.bade@wsj.com and Megumi Fujikawa at megumi.fujikawa@wsj.com

Author: Gavin Bade and Megumi Fujikawa

Source: WSJ:

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