Japan considers all possible options as Trump threatens new auto tariffs
Japan is considering 'all possible options' in response to newly announced U.S. tariffs on auto and auto part imports, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Thursday.
'Various options are available, and we must assess which will be the most effective,' the prime minister said before an Upper House budget meeting. 'At this time, we are keeping all possibilities in mind.'
Ishiba didn't directly answer a question on whether new tariffs would violate a 2019 trade agreement in which Japan lowered tariffs on American pork and beef products to avoid higher duties on autos exported to the United States.
He didn't mention any possible concrete responses to protectionist measures implemented by the United States.
At the meeting in parliament, Ishiba stressed Japan's investment record.
'We have made investments in the United States, created jobs and paid the highest wages. Japan's investment in the U.S. is among the highest — in fact, it ranks first,' Ishiba said.
Given this, the government must ask 'whether it is truly appropriate to apply the same measures to all countries equally,' he added.
Tokyo so far has failed on multiple occasions to persuade the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to exempt Japan from new tariffs.
'The fact that these measures have been announced without excluding Japan is extremely regrettable,' Trade Minister Yoji Muto, who came back from Washington empty-handed earlier this month, told reporters on Thursday.
The government will thoroughly examine the impact of new tariffs on industries and employment, and make sure necessary measures — such as financial support — are implemented, he added.
Trade Minister Yoji Muto said Thursday that the new measures announced by Washington are regrettable. |
Francis Tang
Trump announced on Wednesday that 25% tariffs on all automobile and auto part imports would be imposed from midnight on April 3 , arguing that the imports 'threaten to impair' national security.
'What we're going to be doing is a 25% tariff for all cars that are not made in the United States,' the U.S. president told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday evening.
Following Trump's announcement, Tokyo has made another request for exemption, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Thursday.
Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Takehiro Funakoshi 'conveyed Japan's position' in a phone call with Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau in the early morning on the same day, according to the Foreign Ministry.
Japan's auto exports to the United States were ¥6 trillion ($40 billion) in 2024, which is 28.3% of total exports to the country and the largest single category of exports to the United States, according to Finance Ministry data.
Once the 25% tariff is implemented, Japan's domestic auto production would slump by 4.3%, according to a recent Japan Research Institute estimate .
In Tokyo trading, automaker shares dropped on news of new auto tariffs, with Toyota falling as much as 4% on Thursday morning.
Japanese carmakers are reportedly working to limit the damage of any new tariffs. Honda will produce its next Civic model in Indiana instead of Mexico, according to a Reuters report earlier this month.
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