Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US President Trump signed a joint statement on a new US-Japan trade agreement at a summit held in New York on the afternoon of the 25th. Japan lowered tariffs on US agricultural products such as beef to the level of the Trans-Pacific Economic Partnership Agreement (TPP), but postponed tariff reductions imposed on passenger cars and auto parts by the US side. “Word quality” that the US administration is not considering invoking additional tariffs on Japanese cars remains at the same level as before.
President Trump, who cares about next year's presidential election, stressed, “It ’s a huge victory for US farmers and that ’s important to me.” “It was a win-win agreement for both countries that would benefit all consumers, producers, and workers in both countries,” said Abe.
Regarding additional tariffs on imported vehicles under the US Trade Expansion Act, Article 232, which the US administration has been considering, the Joint Statement states, “The two countries, while these agreements are being implemented in good faith, both Agreements and this Joint Statement. "Do not take action against the spirit of". " The Japanese side explained that the wording was intended to refrain from invoking additional tariffs, saying, “I confirmed directly with Prime Minister Abe to President Trump at the summit meeting on this day” (foreign Minister Toshimitsu Mogi).
However, this wording only follows the expression of the joint statement last autumn, and the verbal “confirmation” between the Japanese and US leaders is the same as last autumn. Mr. Trump has always suggested the possibility of a future move, and U.S. Trade Minister Rightheiser told reporters on the 25th that "At present, the President is not intending to do anything to Japan under Article 232". Explanation. As in the past, the commitment to not trigger in the future was avoided.
Regarding automobile-related tariffs, which account for about 35% of exports to the United States, the TPP agreement starts to reduce the tariff rate for passenger cars (2.5%) from the 15th year, and automobile parts (mainly 2.5%) Over 80% of items were to be eliminated immediately. However, in this agreement, the US side, which summarizes the tariff rates, only states that “the tariffs will be eliminated by further negotiations”, and at this stage, it has virtually abandoned the tariffs.
On the other hand, the Japanese tariffs on beef and pork, which the US places special emphasis on, will be reduced to the TPP level. For beef, we will gradually reduce the current 38.5% to 9%. In addition, the effective low tariff limit, which is not subject to high tariffs due to urgent import restrictions (safeguards), will be approximately 240,000 tons.
Agricultural products other than beef etc. on the Japanese side ...