Latest news with #OfficeoftheU.S.TradeRepresentative
7 days ago
- Automotive
What's in Trump's trade agreement with Japan?
President Donald Trump announced a trade agreement with Japan on Tuesday, making it the largest U.S. trade partner to broker an accord as the White House threatens to impose tariffs on dozens of countries within days. Before the deal, Japan faced the prospect of a 25% tariff rate set to take effect Aug. 1. Instead, products from the fifth-largest U.S. trade partner will be slapped with a 15% tariff, in exchange for a willingness on the part of Japan to import some goods, among other concessions. In a post on social media late Tuesday, Trump touted the agreement as a 'massive deal.' The White House has yet to release full details of the agreement. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba also celebrated the accord. 'With the national interests of both countries in mind, we were able to reach an agreement at this time,' Ishiba said. Japan's Nikkei index surged 3.5% on Wednesday, while major U.S. indexes nudged slightly higher in early trading. Here's what to know about what's in the trade agreement and what comes next: What's in the U.S. trade agreement with Japan? The trade agreement lowers the tariff rate on Japanese products to 15%, putting it below the threatened rate of 25% but higher than a universal rate of 10% faced by nearly all imports. Even more, the U.S. agreed to set a 15% tariff on Japanese cars, putting it below the 25% tariff rate placed on imported vehicles from other nations. Japan purchased nearly $80 billion worth of U.S. products in 2024, while the U.S. bought about $148 billion worth of Japanese goods, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, a government agency. Cars and auto parts accounted for about $52 billion worth of imported Japanese products, making up more than one-third of products purchased by the U.S., government data shows. Shares of Japan-based Toyota soared more than 13% on Wednesday, while Honda jumped about 12%. In exchange for the softening of U.S. tariffs, Japan agreed to open its economy to imports of trucks, rice and other agricultural goods, Trump said. Japan also agreed to invest $550 billion in the U.S. economy, Trump added, but the president did not specify how the funds would be spent. How many trade agreements has the White House achieved so far? When Trump delayed the onset of so-called 'reciprocal tariffs' in April, the White House vowed to strike 90 trade agreements in 90 days. Before that deadline elapsed, Trump proposed a flurry of similar country-specific tariffs with a new effect date of Aug. 1. So far, Trump has brokered agreements with the United Kingdom, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Japan. The White House also reached a preliminary accord with China that lowered tit-for-tat tariffs previously imposed by the world's two largest economies. For his part, the president has insisted that the on-again, off-again levies make up a key part of his negotiation strategy. "The president and his trade team want to cut the best deals for the American people and the American worker," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said last month when she announced the Aug. 1 deadline. Price hikes could hit coffee, shoes, appliances and a range of other products if additional tariffs take effect on Aug. 1, analysts previously told ABC News.
The Diplomat
23-07-2025
- Business
- The Diplomat
Trump Announces Trade Deal With Philippines, Small Reduction in Tariff Rate
The U.S. leader said that Washington would apply a 19 percent tariff on Philippine imports, while Manila has agreed to remove all of its tariffs on American goods. U.S. President Donald Trump has announced a new 19 percent tariff rate for imports from the Philippines, after a meeting with visiting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the White House. Trump made the announcement in a post on his Truth Social media platform after the meeting with Marcos, calling the Philippine leader a 'very good and tough negotiator.' 'It was a beautiful visit, and we concluded our Trade Deal, whereby The Philippines is going OPEN MARKET with the United States, and ZERO Tariffs. The Philippines will pay a 19% Tariff,' Trump wrote. 'In addition, we will work together Militarily.' Marcos arrived in Washington on Sunday for a three-day trip during which he also met with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as well as with U.S. business leaders investing in the Philippines. Speaking to reporters with Marcos, the U.S. leader announced that the two countries were 'very close to finishing a trade deal – a big trade deal, actually.' Trump's announcement comes after he claimed to have finalized similar deals with Vietnam, which negotiated a rate of 20 percent, and Indonesia, whose tariff is now set at 19 percent. (The White House yesterday released more details on the Indonesia agreement, although elements of the agreement with Vietnam have reportedly yet to be finalized.) According to an undated draft of the Philippines-U.S. Agreement on Reciprocal Trade obtained by The Diplomat, the Philippines has agreed to remove nearly all of its tariffs and non-tariff barriers on U.S. imports, including quotas and import licensing requirements, and to bolster intellectual property protections. 'These commitments,' the draft agreement states, 'are intended to enhance reciprocity between the Parties by reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers in the territory of the Philippines and increasing alignment between the United States and the Philippines on economic and national security matters.' The U.S. had a goods trade deficit of $4.9 billion with the Philippines last year, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. As with the two previous agreements with Indonesia and Vietnam, a higher tariff rate will apply to any goods that are deemed to have been transshipped to the U.S. via the Philippines from any third country (i.e. China). The draft agreement states that the 19 percent rate will not apply in the event that a certain percentage of a good 'originates from certain countries not party to this Agreement.' Neither the exact local content threshold nor the tariff on transshipped goods were finalized in the draft, although Trump announced that the rate for Vietnam has been set at 40 percent. (How transshipped goods are to be identified and verified, and by whom, is yet to be determined in any of these cases.) The draft agreement also contains a number of provisions relating to economics and national security. It states that the Philippines will cooperate with Washington 'to regulate the trade in national security sensitive technologies and goods through existing multilateral export control regimes, align with all unilateral export controls in force by the United States, and ensure that its companies do not backfill or undermine these controls.' The agreement also states that the Philippines 'shall adopt and effectively enforce provisions to combat transshipment and other practices to evade or circumvent duties' and that the U.S. 'shall work with the Philippines to streamline and enhance defense trade.' Most notably, the draft states that the U.S. has the right to terminate the agreement if the Philippines 'enters into a new bilateral free trade agreement or preferential economic agreement' with any 'country of concern.' In light of all of these concessions, and its status as a longstanding and 'ironclad' U.S. security ally, it is surprising that the Philippines was unable to secure a greater reduction in the tariff rate. The 19 percent tariff was marginally lower than the 20 percent threatened by Trump in a letter to Marcos earlier this month, but higher than the 17 percent announced in Trump's 'liberation day' tariff announcement in April. It is also notably worse than the 15 percent rate that Trump announced today with Japan, another U.S. ally. The response on Philippine social media has reportedly been unfavorable to Marcos, with many users calling the Philippine leader 'weak' and stating that the risks of the U.S.-Philippine alliance have not been properly counterbalanced by greater U.S. concessions. In a post on X, Renato Reyes Jr., a member of the left-wing Makabayan political coalition, described the agreement as 'a grossly lopsided 'deal' which is really more of an imposition rather than the outcome of any negotiations' and called on the Marcos administration to 'fully disclose' its terms. The national security analyst Justin Baquisal wrote on X that while it remains to be seen whether these political talking points hurt Marcos' political prospects, 'the lack of better treatment for US allies vs non-aligners (esp compared to the original Liberation Day margins) is not doing anybody favors.' 'Most Reliable Ally' Marcos is the first Southeast Asian leader to visit the White House since the beginning of Trump's second term, a reflection of the warmth of the relationship between the two allies. Speaking to reporters at the start of the meeting in the Oval Office, Marcos described the U.S. as his country's 'strongest, closest, most reliable ally,' while Trump praised the Philippine leader, describing him as coming from a 'great family' with a 'great family legacy.' (Marcos' father, Ferdinand E. Marcos, ruled the Philippines through fear and force for more than two decades, including 14 years under Martial Law.) Aside from the trade issue, security and defense were also on the agenda during the Marcos-Trump meeting. Security cooperation between the two nations has increased markedly in recent years as a result of China's growing maritime power and ambition. During Marcos' three years in office, Beijing has increased the frequency and intensity of its incursions into Philippine-claimed waters, which it claims under its expansive 'nine-dash line' claim, resulting in a string of dangerous encounters between the two nations' coast guards. Under Marcos, the Philippines has opened more of its military facilities to a rotational U.S. presence under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, and increased military exercises and joint patrols. The visit did not witness the signing of any new defense cooperation initiatives, but in their meetings with Marcos, both Hegseth and Rubio reaffirmed that the U.S. will come to the Philippines' defense under the Mutual Defense Treaty if its forces, ships and aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea – an assurance that has been consistently made since the first Trump administration. Marcos told Hegseth that the assurance of mutual defense 'continues to be the cornerstone' of the U.S.-Philippines relationship and thanked the U.S. for support 'that we need in the face of the threats that we, our country, is facing.' Speaking alongside Trump, Marcos said that 'we are essentially concerned with the defense of our territory and the exercise of our sovereign rights,' adding, 'Our strongest, closest, most reliable ally has always been the United States.' As the AFP news agency reported, Trump 'devoted much of the appearance to attacks on his Democratic predecessors Biden and Barack Obama.' In a possibly significant aside, Trump address relations with China, saying that he would 'probably' visit the country 'in the not-too-distant future.' While taking credit for 'untilt[ing]' the Philippines away from China (the shift in Manila's policy took place under the Biden administration), he said that the Philippines was independent in its dealings with Beijing. 'Do whatever you need to do,' Trump told Marcos, the Associated Press reported. 'But your dealing with China wouldn't bother me at all.'
CNBC
21-07-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Orange juice importer says Brazil tariffs will raise prices for American consumers
Orange juice prices could rise by 20% to 25%, according to Johanna Foods, a small U.S. business suing the White House over tariffs threatened against Brazil. President Donald Trump said in a July 9 letter to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva that he would apply a 50% tariff to all imports from Brazil starting Aug. 1. Trump said the high tariff rate was necessary because of "the way Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro." Prosecutors in Brazil have alleged that Bolsonaro was part of a scheme that included a plan to assassinate the country's current president, who defeated him in the last election, and Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing. Trump also said Brazil was censoring U.S.-based social media platforms and was running "unsustainable Trade Deficits" with the United States. However, the United States has a goods trade surplus with Brazil — more than $7 billion last year, according to data from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Johanna Foods, which says it supplies nearly 75% of all private label "not from concentrate" orange juice to customers in the U.S., says those arguments do not constitute an economic emergency and therefore the president does not have the power to levy this tariff. "The Brazil Letter does not refer to any legal or statutory authority under which the Brazil Tariff can be imposed by the President," the company's attorney Marc Kaplin writes in a filing. "The Brazil Letter does not constitute a proper executive action, is not an Executive Order, does not reference or incorporate any Executive Orders or modify or amend any existing Executive Order," the attorney continued. The company said some of its customers include Walmart, Aldi, Wegman's, Safeway and Albertsons. Johanna Foods CEO Robert Facchina said the duty would result in an estimated $68 million hit, exceeding any single year of profits since the company was created in 1995. "The Brazil Tariff will result in a significant, and perhaps prohibitive, price increase in a staple American breakfast food," the lawsuit reads. "The not from concentrate orange juice ingredients imported from Brazil are not reasonably available from any supplier in the United States in sufficient quantity or quality to meet the Plaintiffs' production needs." Orange juice prices have already been rising across the country. Over the last year, the average price of a 16 ounce container of orange juice rose 23 cents, or more than 5%, to $4.49, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Orange juice futures, the global benchmark that tracks the commodity, have also jumped recently. During the last month, they are up nearly 40%, with most of that increase coming on the heels of Trump's threat. Brazil's Supreme Court ruled last month that social media companies can be held accountable for the content posted on their platforms. Elon Musk's social media site, X, was also briefly banned last year in Brazil after Musk refused to comply with a court request to ban some accounts. Facchina says layoffs of union manufacturing employees, administrative staff and a reduced production capacity at the company's Flemington, New Jersey, and Spokane, Washington, facilities are near-certain should these tariffs go into effect. Johanna Foods employs almost 700 people across Washington state and New Jersey. Brazil was the 18th-largest source of U.S. goods imports last year, with more than $42 billion worth of imports entering the country, according to U.S. International Trade Commission data. In its legal filing, the company asks the Court of International Trade to declare that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not grant Trump the statutory authority to impose the tariffs against Brazil, and that the president has not identified a national emergency or "unusual and extraordinary threat" as required by the IEEPA law to impose the tariffs. In response to the lawsuit, a White House spokesperson said the administration is "legally and fairly using tariff powers that have been granted to the executive branch by the Constitution and Congress to level the playing field for American workers and safeguard our national security."
NBC News
21-07-2025
- Business
- NBC News
Orange juice importer says Brazil tariffs will raise prices for American consumers
Orange juice prices could rise by 20% to 25%, according to Johanna Foods, a small U.S. business suing the White House over tariffs threatened against Brazil. President Donald Trump said in a July 9 letter to President Luiz Inacio da Silva that he would apply a 50% tariff to all imports from Brazil starting on August 1. Trump said the high tariff rate was necessary because of "the way Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro." Prosecutors in Brazil have alleged that Bolsonaro was part of a scheme that included a plan to assassinate the country's current president, who defeated him in the last election, and Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. Bolsonaro has denied all wrongdoing. Trump also said Brazil was censoring U.S.-based social media platforms and was running 'unsustainable Trade Deficits' with the United States. However, the United States has a goods trade surplus with Brazil — more than $7 billion last year, according to data from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Johanna Foods, which says it supplies nearly 75% of all private label 'not from concentrate' orange juice to customers in the U.S., says those arguments do not constitute an economic emergency and therefore the president does not have the power to levy this tariff. 'The Brazil Letter does not refer to any legal or statutory authority under which the Brazil Tariff can be imposed by the President,' the company's attorney Marc Kaplin writes in a filing. 'The Brazil Letter does not constitute a proper executive action, is not an Executive Order, does not reference or incorporate any Executive Orders or modify or amend any existing Executive Order.' The company says some of its customers include Walmart, Aldi, Wegman's, Safeway and Albertsons. Johanna Foods CEO Robert Facchina says the duty would result in an estimated $68 million hit, exceeding any single year of profits since the company was created in 1995. 'The Brazil Tariff will result in a significant, and perhaps prohibitive, price increase in a staple American breakfast food,' he writes. 'The not from concentrate orange juice ingredients imported from Brazil are not reasonably available from any supplier in the United States in sufficient quantity or quality to meet the Plaintiffs' production needs.' Brazil's Supreme Court ruled last month that social media companies can be held accountable for the content posted on their platforms. Elon Musk's social media site, X, was also briefly banned last year in Brazil after Musk refused to comply with a court request to ban some accounts. Facchina says layoffs of union manufacturing employees, administrative staff and a reduced production capacity at the company's Flemington, New Jersey, and Spokane, Washington, facilities are near certain should these tariffs go into effect. Johanna Foods employs almost 700 people across Washington state and New Jersey. Brazil was the 18th-largest source of U.S. goods imports last year, with more than $42 billion worth of imports entering the country, according to U.S. International Trade Commission data. In its legal filing, the company asks the Court of International Trade to declare that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not grant Trump the statutory authority to impose the tariffs against Brazil, and that the president has not identified a national emergency or 'unusual and extraordinary threat' as required by the IEEPA law to impose the tariffs. In response to the lawsuit, a White House spokesman said the administration is "legally and fairly using tariff powers that have been granted to the executive branch by the Constitution and Congress to level the playing field for American workers and safeguard our national security.'
15-07-2025
- Business
Trump defends giving Putin '50 days' to make peace with Ukraine
After President Donald Trump threatened to impose "very severe" economic penalties against Vladimir Putin's Russia if he doesn't agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine within 50 days, the Trump administration has so far declined to provide many additional details about the consequences Russia will face or why he picked the deadline he chose. "Well, at the end of 50 days, if we don't have a deal, it's going to be too bad," Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday. When asked why he decided to give the Russian leader nearly two months to comply with his demand, President Trump deflected. "I don't think 50 days is very long. It could be sooner than that," Trump said. "You should have asked that same question to Biden. Why did he get us into this war?" he continued. "You know why he got us in? Because he's a dummy, that's why." Despite pledging additional U.S. made weapons for Ukraine, Trump also said he didn't support Ukraine's President Zelenskyy ordering strikes on the Russian capital. "He shouldn't target Moscow," he said. "No, we're not looking to do that." What Trump is threatening On Monday, Trump said that Russia's failure to reach a negotiated settlement with Ukraine within 50 days would lead to his administration imposing a 100% tariff rate on Russian imports as well as what he called "secondary tariffs" on countries that have continued to do business with Moscow. "We're very, very unhappy with him," Trump said of Putin on Monday. "We're going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days." U.S. imports from Russia, which totaled around $3 billion in 2024 according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, account for a small share of Moscow's revenue, meaning Trump's threat to hike tariffs on Russian goods likely wouldn't pack much punch. However, the president's promise to raise tariffs on imports from third-party countries could carry more weight. Some secondary sanctions aimed at weakening Russia's war economy are already in place. The Biden administration steadily ramped up its use of the penalties throughout the conflict, primarily targeting foreign financial institutions accused of supporting Moscow's military industrial complex and the so-called "shadow fleet" of tanker operators working to circumvent Western sanctions and price caps on Russian oil. But going after countries that import oil and other resources from Russia would be a significant escalation. Through much of the war, the Biden administration avoided taking direct aim at Russian energy exporters out of concern that doing so would cause global fuel prices to rise. Instead, the former administration worked with other members of the G7 to cap the price of Russian oil products, cutting into Moscow's profits while allowing the exports to remain on the market. Trump, on the other hand, has previously promised to go after Russia's customers. In March, Trump threatened to put "secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia" during an interview with NBC News -- adding "if you buy oil from Russia, you can't do business in the United States." What countries would feel the impact? The White House has yet to release specific details on Trump's secondary tariffs, but his ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, said on Monday the top importers of Russian oil would be in the administration's crosshairs. "It's about tariffs on countries like India and China that are buying their oil. And it really is going to I think dramatically impact the Russian economy," he said during an interview with CNN. But whether the secondary tariffs would stop at countries like China and India is an open question. Despite the web of sanctions in place against Russia, the country still has many meaningful trade relationships, including ones with European allies. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the EU has significantly dropped its share of Russian oil and gas imports and its plan to fully phase out those imports isn't expected to fully come to fruition until the end of 2027 at the earliest. Some Eastern European and Central Asian countries also have economies that rely on doing business with Russia, meaning they would almost certainly be unable to significantly scale back trade with Russia and would have the face the consequences of secondary tariffs. The next 50 days If the president sticks to his 50-day window, Russia can continue to carry out its summertime campaign against Ukraine until early September without facing additional consequences. In his interview with CNN, Whitaker was also asked about how Trump made the decision on the timeline but didn't give a clear answer. "The time to end the slaughter is now. The time to end the killing is now. And so 50 days is the appropriate amount of time because it needs to happen now," he responded. Currently, Russia is making modest gains against Ukraine and may soon seek to leverage those advances to launch additional offenses in the eastern reach of the country, according to a recent assessment from the Institute of the Study of War. Many officials and experts have long predicted that the Kremlin would push off serious talks on ending the war until the cooler months set in because it hopes to strengthen its position at the negotiating table by claiming as much territory as possible during the summer season. In an interview with the BBC on Monday, Trump indicated he still wanted to pursue diplomacy with Russia, but that his patience with Putin was wearing thin. "I'm not done with him, but I'm disappointed with him," he said.
