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Japan said that it would not sacrifice its farmers to secure tariff exceptions from the USA, since Tokyo and Washington hardened their positions in rice diplomacy and on an upcoming trade agreement between the faded allies.
The comments of the Japanese chief cabinet secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi on Tuesday came when Donald Trump occupied JapanAmong other things, as “spoiled” and the latest round of trade negotiations in Washington ended without clear progress.
“We don’t think so to do something that would sacrifice the farm sector,” said Hayashi.
Weeks with negotiations have created a number of suggestions that aim to break a deadlock, including Japan, who bought more US energy and agricultural products and new joint financing mechanisms for US production, according to the people familiar with the conversations.
However, no one has succeeded in changing the commitment of the Trump government to reduce his trade deficit with Japan, which was $ 63 billion for the Japanese financial year in March.
In a contribution about his social side of his truth on Monday, Trump concentrated his anger on rice.
“To show people how spoiled countries have become in relation to the United States, and I have great respect for Japan, they won’t take our rice, and yet they have a massive lack of rice,” wrote Trump.
The combination of poor harvest and politics has driven the travel prices more than double Last year, the temporary bottlenecks, huge queues for cheaper rice and forced the government to fulfill their strategic rice reserve in order to make relief.
Japanese rice production has been a very political problem for decades. The harvest has an oversized national importance and the farmers were crucial support for the boring liberal democratic party.
The United States exports some Re -Bedriac for Japan as part of a “minimum access agreement of the world trade organization”, but Japan presents a survey of imports that go beyond a limit of 770,000 tons.
Tokyo had initially hoped for a fast-track trade agreement with Trump. With both sides, the LDP is now exposed to the probability of a campaign for upper house elections on July 20 without a deal according to people with direct knowledge of the negotiations. This will increase the risk of prime minister Shigeru Ishiba, which has a low approval reviews and has a relatively fragile parliament.
It also happens that clouds gather over a Japanese economy that depends heavily on its auto industry. According to the Japan Automobile Manufacturer ‘Association, the country’s automotive industry employs more than 5.5 million employees directly and indirectly.
Tokyo has consistently demanded a complete exemption From Washington’s cover 25 percent tariff for automotive imports and the revocation of the 24 percent “mutual” tariffs that Trump has on Japan. These taxes were held on July 9 on July 9th to sign a trade agreement.
Japan’s chances of securing a collective bargaining exemption at short notice, but seemed to be low and falling, said two people who are close to the discussions.
In an interview with Fox News last weekend, Trump complained about the “unfair” trade relationship and claimed that the United States “millions and million” Japanese cars “and millions”, while the Japanese “will not take our cars”.
Japan’s largest automotive companies have set up large production facilities in the United States for decades. The exports of the car and trucks to the USA were 1.37 million vehicles in 2024, with the automotive sector about 28 percent of Japanese exports to the USA.
In the United States, only a few vehicles are exported to Japan, where American car models are generally considered too large and consumed.
“I could send a (letter) to Japan:” Dear Mr. Japan, here is the story, “continued Trump.” You will pay your car a tariff of 25 percent. “
