Donald Trump indicated Japan would accept imports of Ford's F-150 trucks amid confusion regarding a trade deal between the two nations. Japan's top negotiator is pressing the U.S. for tariff reductions from 27.5% to 15%. Trump claimed Japan is taking American cars, including F-150s. The enforcement of the trade deal raises concerns due to discrepancies in understanding how tariffs will be implemented. Japan's Prime Minister described the matter as urgent. The specifics of whether existing tariffs will change remains unclear, complicating the trade relationship further.
"They're taking our cars," Trump said of Japan in a phone interview broadcast by CNBC on Tuesday. "They're taking the very beautiful Ford F-150, which does very well. And I'm sure we'll do very well there and other things that do very well here, will also do well there."
"This is an extremely urgent matter, so the government will do its utmost to ensure its implementation," Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said of the deal in a parliamentary session held Tuesday.
U.S. auto tariffs on Japan are now set at 27.5%-a combination of a previous 2.5% rate and a new 25% applied by Trump. Although a cut to 15% would lessen the blow, that rate would still impact a sector that has long been a mainstay of Japan's economy.
Another question is whether the across-the-board 15% tariff is stacked on top of existing rates or whether all current levies will be standardized to 15%, in another potential divergence of the U.S. and Japan's understandings of the trade deal.
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