The President of the United States, Donald Trump announced on Tuesday the stipulation of commercial agreements with Japan and Philippines, which involve the imposition of duties of 15% on imports from Japan and 19% on those from the Philippines. Trump had previously threatened numerous commercial partners in the United States with the introduction of new customs tariffs starting from 1 August, in the event of the bankruptcy of the negotiations. To date, the president has known agreements only with Japan, Philippines, the United Kingdom, Vietnam and Indonesia. “We have just closed a huge agreement with Japan” according to which the country “will pay mutual rates to the United States of 15%,” Trump said through its Truth Social platform.
The imports of Japanese goods were previously subject to duties of 10%. The Asian country, the main foreign investor in the United States, had been exposed to increases of 25%. For the automotive sector, which generates 8% of Japanese jobs, rates of 25% were already in force, now destined to be reduced.
Although Trump did not provide specific details, he said that The agreement provides for investments for a value of “$ 550,000 million in the United States, which will receive 90% of the benefits” and the creation of “hundreds of thousands of jobs”. “Perhaps the most important thing is that Japan will open its country to trade, which includes cars and trucks, rice and other agricultural products,” added the Republican.
A few hours earlier, Trump had announced a commercial agreement with the Philippines, which provides for the 19% rates application on the products from Southeast Asian archipelago. The rate is greater than 17% with which he had threatened the Asian country in April, when he announced rates that he then frozen to negotiate on a case -by -case basis. “We have concluded our commercial agreement, with which the Philippines are heading towards an open market with the United States,” Trump said on Truth Social after receiving his Filipino counterpart, Ferdinand Marcos, in the White House.
During a reception with the members of the Republican Congress to celebrate his six months in office, Donald Trump announced Tuesday that the European Union is the next of the list. Europe “will come tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow others will arrive,” he said, referring to the countries and regions whose negotiations on the commercial agreement have not yet been concluded.
Tuesday, the United States government specified the details of the commercial agreement announced with Indonesia, which, according to the White House, is preliminary. Both countries have agreed to loosen the restrictions on the export of minerals from the country of Southeast Asia to the United States, announced the White House. In the case of Indonesia, the duties will be 19%, much less than 32% brandished by Trump. Following an escalation of the duties with China, the two major economies in the world have set a reduction of duties during the negotiation of an agreement. The next round is scheduled in Stockholm next week.
The announcement of the agreement came two days after the defeat suffered by the coalition of the Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in the senatorial elections. Ishiba confirmed on Wednesday that the US rates on Japanese cars were reduced from 25% to 15%. “We have agreed to reduce the 25% additional rate imposed in April on cars and cars to 15%,” said Ishiba, adding that this 15% already includes 2.5% in force before Trump’s tariff offensive. “We are the first country in the world to reduce the rates on cars and parts without volume limits”told journalists. However, the samples of 50% on aluminum and steel did not fall within this agreement, as the commercial correspondent of Tokyo, Ryosei Akazawa, specified on Wednesday. “If you are asking if the agreement includes steel and aluminum, they are not included,” Akazawa clarified to journalists in Washington. Akazawa also specified that “the commercial agreement does not include any expenditure for the defense”, following the pressure exerted by Trump on his ally to increase military expenses.
Following the announcement, Wednesday Japanese car manufacturers recorded a surge in the stock market. Toyota shares went up to 12% to the Japanese stock exchange. Japanese cars shipments in the United States decreased by 26.7% in June, fueling the fears of a technical recession in Japan.