New US tariff rate of 15% to come into effect Thursday
That's 1 p.m., Japan time, on Thursday.
Japan and the United States reached an agreement last month to impose a new 15 percent baseline import tariff rate on Japan.
Immediately after the deal was clinched, the Japanese government explained that the 15 percent rate would be imposed on items currently subject to a lower rate -- and that nothing would change for those whose tariffs are already 15 percent or higher.
But there was no mention of this in the executive order US President Donald Trump signed on July 31 or in related documents released by the White House. That's despite a flat 15 percent rate being set down in a similar agreement reached between the European Union and the United States.
It also remains unclear when the US tariffs on Japanese autos will be lowered from the current 27.5 percent to 15 percent.
Japan's top trade negotiator, Akazawa Ryosei, now in Washington, is calling on his US counterparts to lower tariffs on Japanese automobiles and car parts at an early date.
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