U.S. President Donald Trump and Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have agreed to open up trade talks between the two countries with a particular emphasis on U.S. auto exports to Japan. While the U.S. currently imposes a miniscule 2.5-percent tax on imported Japanese-built automobiles, Japan doesn’t have any tariffs in place to affect the sale of U.S.-built cars there, yet even still, Japan has faced criticism from some of being too closed-off to cars from the U.S. with its so-called “non-tariff barriers”.
After the talks, trade between the two countries “can only be better for the United States, because it couldn’t get any worse than what has happened over the years,” Trump told reporters recently. A joint statement from the countries said that the U.S. is entering talks with the goal of expanding access for U.S.-built automobiles in Japan, giving a boost to domestic vehicle production, and that Japan’s aim is to grow the market for its agricultural exports in the U.S.
Japan initially resisted entering into bilateral trade talks with the U.S., but has agreed to have the discussions in order to stave off tariffs that the Trump administration has threatened to levy on Japan-built automobiles coming into the U.S., sources have told Bloomberg. The European Union made a similar arrangement back in July, getting the Trump administration to hold off on imposing any new tariffs by agreeing to enter into trade talks with the U.S.
President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal early in his presidency, throwing away at least one provision – relating to how Japan certifies imported automobiles for legal sale to its public – that might have helped lower the barrier to entry for U.S. automakers. The other 11 countries involved in the trade deal, unable to ratify the TPP without the U.S., pressed on with a new trade deal carrying most of the same provisions as TPP.
General Motors sells a handful of automobile models in the Japanese market, including Chevrolet, Buick, and Cadillac models, but a majority are left-hand-drive only, even though Japan is a RHD market.
Comments
President Trump just keeps on WINNING!
Mexico has agreed to a bilateral trade deal…
Germany has given in and will remove auto tariffs on American goods.
China is whining and crying about having to agree to fair and free trade but it is doing them no good.
NAFTA is dead. Canadian PM Trudeau got hoodwinked by Mexico and proven to be an amateur by Trump.
Japan’s PM Abe keeps coming to Trump in the U.S. to partner with him because he knows Trump and the U.S. could bankrupt his country (it is already) if it shuts of trade.
President Trump – The Art of the Deal in action. His enemies just keep losing while he protects American jobs and workers. Wish we had someone like him leading us in Canada.
Based on the polls most Americans wish he was in Canada too.
The people of Japan are very loyal to their domestic brands. Even if Japan opens it’s import market, I don’t believe the U.S. would see any meaningful demand for our vehicles to be exported to Japan. They are also right hand drive.
To bad the people of America are not as prideful and loyal as the Japanese people when it comes to purchasing cars from their country.
The US wouldn’t be in this place that we are in had they never allowed Japan to ever send one car to the US for sale! After what Japan did to the US in WWII.
I’d love to see a tariff of at least 33% placed on Japanese cars – I’m sure that the amazing quality that their fans are always babbling about, along with the 100 million mile durability without even putting air in the tires, would make it all worthwhile.
While we’re going back in history, why not mention the land grab from Native Americans and slavery?
The last time Japanese people were in the news it was at the soccer world cup in Russia, where fans stayed after games to clean up stadiums. Their team did the same in the locker room.
We’re all just people. They just happen to be better at building cars that last. If it wasn’t for Japanese and German competition, just think of the transgressions in quality the American automakers would be getting away with.
Last time I checked the Indians didnt own anything! They didnt have a decalration of independence, a constitution, a designated govt! So there was not a land grab! Both sides had battles over land and the native Americans lost! Not sure how slavery has anything to do with this?
You still dont address the issue that the Japanese people stay loyal to their country and the companies that are within their boarders!
Some people in the US are sellouts they chased the money instead of supporting there country. Now the people of the US are having to make very difficult decisions now that should have been made decades ago.
There’s something called pride and loyalty the Japanese understand it why cant the people of the US understand it?
So going forward dont allow foriegn companies to build factories in this country. Force them to build their products (cars and trucks) overseas and tax each and everyone that gets imported into the US.
The US has been to nice to these other countries and that needs to change!
i see another win for trump!!!!
japan agrees to drop all barriers and US manufacturers end up selling 50 more cars.
if that isn’t MAGA, i don’t know what is.
Liberals and Democrats secretly hate America as this is why they loved Obama so much and were so willing to break laws to try helping Hillary Clinton win while despising Donald Trump; Trump has been true to his word on just about everything as Trump is forcing Democrats to chew on glass.. Obama tried to take credit for Trump’s success until business experts told Obama of how his economy was beginning to stall because of all the regulations which is like trying to drive with the parking brakes on, Trump has massaged the engine of the US Economy and cut out some regulations which is like reworking engine headers and exhaust manifold as Trump didn’t rebuild as much as he tweak the economy to squeeze out as much performance as possible.
trump boosted the economy unnecessarily with that trillion dollar tax cut.
it is like bringing a kilo of cocaine to the party at 2am to keep it going.
usually during good economic times, that is when you pay down the debt. the opposite is happening right now. the debt is going up. these tax cuts will not pay for themselves.
cutting taxes when times are good makes as much sense as cutting them before going to war like W did.
so enjoy the party while it lasts.
The only “non-tariff” barrier is that vehicles are required to have steering wheels on the right side, a requirement that only the US car industry refuses to comply with. In the early 2000s, GM was importing cars from South Korea into japan with LHD even though those very same factories were producing cars with RHD.