(Corrects tariff rate on steel and aluminium to 50% from 25% in paragraph 7)
TOKYO (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Wednesday said they had struck a trade deal that will include a 15% tariff on imports from Japan. Here’s what we know so far.
THE DEAL
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the deal would include $550 billion of Japanese investments in the United States, improved market access into Japan for American goods including automobiles, rice and other agricultural products.
Japanese autos, which account for more than a quarter of all the country’s exports to the U.S., will also be subject to a 15% tariff, down from a punishing 25%, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said. The U.S. has also agreed to not impose any caps on auto imports, he added.
Japan will keep its existing tariffs on imports of U.S. agricultural products and maintain a minimum market access system that limits the amount of rice that it buys from overseas including the U.S., he said.
A Trump administration official said Japan would increase its purchases of U.S. agricultural products such as rice.
The $550 billion of investment was the upper limit of loan investments and guarantees that Japanese government state banks and agencies would make available to companies to help companies build resilient supply chains.
Japan’s top trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said steel and aluminium, subject to a separate 50% tariff, were not included in the deal.
TARIFF DEADLINE
Akazawa has traveled to the U.S. eight times since April for trade talks with U.S. officials including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. The latest visit came days before an August 1 deadline when the Trump Administration said it would impose a 25% tariff on all Japanese imports.
The U.S. is Japan’s biggest export market. Economists had estimated that Trump’s tariffs could lower Japan’s GDP by as much as a percentage point.
ELECTION FALLOUT
The tariff agreement comes three days after Ishiba’s administration lost its upper house majority in an election, triggering calls for his resignation including from within his own ruling Liberal Democratic Party, according to local media reports.
In the wake of that election defeat, Ishiba said he would stay in place to push for a trade agreement with the U.S. and to tackle Japan’s looming economic problems.
Ishiba will announce his intention to step down by the end of August, the Mainichi newspaper reported on Wednesday.
MARKET REACTION
Japanese automaker shares led the Nikkei share average higher, which rose by 2% in early trading following the announcement. Toyota Motor Corp’s shares jumped by 10% with Honda Motor Co up by 9%.
The benchmark 10-year Japanese bond futures tumbled as much as 0.92 yen to 137.68 yen, the lowest since March 28.
(Reporting by Tim Kelly; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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