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Trump announces trade deal with Japan

President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a trade agreement with Japan, claiming he’d notched a deal with one of the country’s top trading partners.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the U.S. will charge a 15 percent tariff on Japanese exports to the U.S. in exchange for a $550 billion investment in the U.S. Japan, he said, will open its market to U.S.-made “Cars and Trucks, Rice and certain other Agricultural Products, and other things.”

“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 wrote on Truth Social. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

Japan was the United States’ fifth-largest trading partner in 2024, making it by far the biggest trade deal the Trump administration has reached so far — not counting the temporary tariff truce they reached with China this past spring.

A spokesperson for the Japanese Embassy did not immediately confirm the terms of the agreement outlined by Trump.

U.S. imports from Japan totaled $148 billion last year, including about $58 billion worth of autos, auto parts and other automotive products.

Japanese goods currently face a 10 percent U.S. tariff, but it was set to rise to 25 percent on Aug. 1.

Trump did not say whether the Japanese would receive relief on Trump’s separate 25 percent tariff on cars and car parts, an issue that has been a major sticking point in trade talks. The Japanese auto industry, lead by companies like Toyota, Subaru and Honda, is taking a significant financial blow on its exports to the U.S. as a result of the tariffs, which went into effect at the beginning of April.

The Japanese government did not immediately issue a statement regarding the deal, but Japanese trade minister Ryosei Akazawa is in the U.S. and met with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in recent days.

The Trump administration has pledged that it will make a handful of deals before the Aug. 1 deadline it has set to impose tariffs between 10 and 50 percent on more than 50 U.S. trading partners.

LP Staff Writers

Writers at Lord’s Press come from a range of professional backgrounds, including history, diplomacy, heraldry, and public administration. Many publish anonymously or under initials—a practice that reflects the publication’s long-standing emphasis on discretion and editorial objectivity. While they bring expertise in European nobility, protocol, and archival research, their role is not to opine, but to document. Their focus remains on accuracy, historical integrity, and the preservation of events and individuals whose significance might otherwise go unrecorded.

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