By Andrea Shalal, David Shepardson and Tamiyuki Kihara
WASHINGTON/TOKYO (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump signed an order on Thursday to implement lower tariffs on Japanese automobile imports and other products that were announced in July, providing some relief to Japan’s export-heavy economy.
Formalizing the deal between the U.S. and a key Asian ally comes after months of negotiations, reduces uncertainty plaguing the massive Japanese auto sector since the July announcement and confirms an agreement for $550 billion of Japanese investment in U.S. projects.
The lower 15% tariffs on Japanese autos, down from the current 27.5%, are set to take effect seven days after official publication of the order.
The executive order also ensured that the 15% levy on Japanese imports agreed in July would not be stacked on top of those already subject to higher tariffs such as beef, while items previously subject to tariffs below 15% would be adjusted to 15%. This relief is retroactive to August 7.
In addition, it promised no tariffs on commercial airplanes and parts.
Trump’s levies on global shipments have dragged down Japan’s exports and hit Japanese carmakers hard. Last month, Toyota said it expected a hit of nearly $10 billion from Trump’s tariffs on cars imported into the United States.
“Finally,” Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s top trade negotiator, posted to X, in a nod to the months-long trade talks that had frustrated lawmakers in Tokyo. Thursday marked his 10th trip to the U.S. for the negotiations.
Speaking to reporters in Washington, Akazawa said Japan welcomed the executive order as “a steady implementation of the agreement reached on July 22.”
Rival exporter South Korea is still waiting on an executive order covering a similar trade agreement with the U.S., including a 15% tariff on U.S. imports from automakers like Hyundai Motor and Kia, down from 25%.
A South Korean trade official said on Friday that his country was assessing the potential impact of the executive order regarding Japan.
Shares of major Japanese automakers were up slightly on Friday in early trading, while those in South Korea were slightly lower.
Toyota praised Trump’s efforts to reach a trade deal with Japan. “While nearly 80% of the vehicles Toyota sells in the U.S. are made in North America, this framework provides much needed clarity,” the company said in a statement.
Trump’s order said Japan was “working toward an expedited implementation of a 75% increase of United States rice procurements… and purchases of United States agricultural goods, including corn, soybeans, fertilizer, bioethanol (including for sustainable aviation fuel)” and other U.S. products totaling $8 billion per year.
As part of the deal, Japan will buy 100 Boeing planes and hike defense spending with U.S. firms to $17 billion annually, from $14 billion, the White House said in July.
Japan said in July the share of U.S. rice imports may increase under its existing framework but that the agreement did “not sacrifice” Japanese agriculture.
$550 BILLION OF INVESTMENTS
Trump’s order on Thursday also reiterated that the Japanese government has agreed to invest $550 billion in the United States in projects that will be selected by the U.S. government.
Two-way trade between the two countries reached nearly $230 billion in 2024, with Japan running a trade surplus of nearly $70 billion.
The United States in July agreed to lower tariffs on imports of Japanese automobiles but the timing remained unclear as Trump had yet to sign an executive order.
Japan has said the trade deal ensures the U.S.’s fifth-largest trading partner will always receive the lowest tariff rate on chips and pharmaceuticals of all the pacts negotiated by Washington, but the latest order had no mention of the treatment.
Japan will continue to push the U.S. to ensure the agreed treatment, Akazawa told reporters.
The $550 billion investment package, which will come in the form of equity, loans and guarantees from Japan’s government-owned banks, was agreed as part of the July trade deal.
The two governments also signed a memorandum of understanding on the details of the investment package on Thursday.
The executive order said that the United States “may modify this order as necessary” should Japan fail to implement its commitments under the agreement.
The agreement comes ahead of a key test for Japan’s embattled Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba with his ruling party set to vote on Monday on whether to hold an extraordinary leadership election that could result in his ouster.
Ishiba has overseen his ruling coalition lose its majority in elections for both houses of parliament since coming to power last year amid voter anger over rising living costs and weak economic growth exacerbated by the trade tariff uncertainty.
While finalising the trade deal gives Ishiba an argument to stay on, he is unlikely to survive the backlash from within his own party, said David Boling of political risk consultancy EurAsia Group, estimating a 60% chance that he is forced out.
(Reporting by Tamiyuki Kihara, Andrea Shalal, David Shepardson, Makiko Yamazaki and John Geddie; Additional reporting by Jihoon Lee and Hyunjoo Jin in Seoul; Editing by Marguerita Choy, Lincoln Feast and Jamie Freed)
