Japan proposes nation-by-nation system to reduce U.S. auto tariffs

Asahi Shimbun

a day ago

Ryosei Akazawa, minister in charge of economic revitalization, talks to reporters at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on June 5 before heading to Washington for tariff negotiations. (Yuki Morishita)
Japan, expecting the United States to continue rejecting its request for a full removal of Donald Trump's extra auto tariff, has proposed a system to at least reduce the rate, multiple government sources said.
The Japanese government will keep pressing the U.S. side to eliminate the flat 25-percent auto tariff that is applied equally to every country.
However, Tokyo has also asked U.S. officials at the ministerial level to consider lowering the rate according to the 'degree of contribution' from each country, the sources said.
Under the proposal, the auto tariff on Japan would be lowered if Japanese automakers increase production in the United States and export more U.S.-made vehicles.
The Japanese government was already considering proposing this system in April, when the United States imposed the 25-percent auto tariff.
Ryosei Akazawa, minister in charge of economic revitalization and Japan's chief tariff negotiator, has called on the U.S. side to retract all of Trump's tariffs, including the additional auto levy, since negotiations started.
However, in May, the United States and Britain reached an agreement to cut the auto tariff to 10 percent on up to 100,000 auto exports from Britain per year.
The tariff was not completely removed, and some Japanese government officials viewed the U.S.-British deal as a sign that it would be impossible to reduce the tariff on Japan to zero.
Trump's tariffs are already having a negative impact on the Japanese auto industry, so the government is growing more open to the idea of reducing the levy to limit the damage.
However, the ultimate goal is to completely remove the tariff in the Japanese automakers' most important market.
'Even if the auto tariff will be reduced to a few percent, we still need to make efforts,' an official said.
Washington reportedly demanded that Japan increase auto production in the United States in exchange for a reduced tariff rate at the fourth ministerial level meeting on May 30.
Akazawa on June 5 visited the United States for the fifth round of negotiations.
He repeated his request for the complete removal of Trump's tariffs in talks with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick that lasted for about 110 minutes.
Akazawa is scheduled to meet with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the chief tariff negotiator of the U.S. administration, on June 6, sources said.
(This article was compiled from reports by Narumi Ota and Taro Kotegawa in Tokyo and Chinami Tajika in Washington.)