‘We just completed a massive Deal with Japan, perhaps the largest Deal ever made,’ Trump said.
With an Aug. 1 deadline approaching, the United States has reached a trade agreement with Japan, U.S. President Donald Trump announced on social media on Tuesday.
“I just signed … maybe the largest deal in history,” Trump said at the White House.
“We worked on it long and hard, and it’s a great deal for everybody. A lot different from the deals in the past, I can tell you that,” Trump said. Across his political career, Trump has often criticized the trade arrangements between the United States and its allies, among them Japan.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump revealed some details of the agreement.
As a part of the deal, Japan will open to U.S. trade on items like cars and trucks, rice, other agricultural products, “and other things.”
The East Asian nation will also pay reciprocal tariffs to the United States at a rate of 15 percent. Trump had threatened an increase to 25 percent if Japan didn’t come to an agreement before the Aug. 1 deadline.
Industry and government officials with knowledge of the agreement said the deal gives Japan one major win, lowering the tariff on Japanese automobiles by 10 percent, cutting the rate from 25 percent to 15 percent. Japanese cars include some of the most popular manufacturers in the United States, including companies such as Toyota, Honda, and Nissan.
Japan will invest $550 billion in the United States, “which will receive 90% of the Profits” from those investments, Trump said.
“This Deal will create Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs—There has never been anything like it,” he wrote.
“This is a very exciting time for the United States of America, and especially for the fact that we will continue to always have a great relationship with the Country of Japan,” Trump said.
The trade deal comes as Japan faces an uncertain political future.
On Sunday, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s party lost control of the upper house of the Japanese government, after losing control of the lower house in October. Voters were driven in part by fears about the impending trade deadline.
On Wednesday, Ishiba acknowledged the trade deal, saying it would benefit both nations.
By Andrew Moran and Joseph Lord
