President Trump announced a trade framework deal with Japan on Tuesday that will impose a 15% tariff on imports from Japan, according to the Associated Press.
“This deal will create hundreds of thousands of jobs – there has never been anything like it,” Trump said in a post on the Truth Social platform, saying the United States “will always have a good relationship with Japan.”
Trump also said Japan will invest $550 billion in the United States “at my direction” and open its economy “to American cars and rice.” The 15% tariff announced this time is a decrease from the 25% rate Trump mentioned in a letter to Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, in which he said the rate would take effect on August 1.
With this announcement, Trump hopes to show his ability as a “deal master” – although his initial announcement of the tariffs in early April sparked market panic and concerns about slowing economic growth, which now appear to have eased. Some key details in his post are still unclear, such as whether Japanese-made cars will still face the 25% tariff he previously set for the industry.
Still, the trade framing fits a recent pattern for Mr. Trump: He is eager to portray the tariffs as a victory for the U.S. His administration says the revenue will help reduce the budget deficit and eliminate trade imbalances by prompting more factories to move back to the U.S. to avoid import taxes.
