Japan wants US to stick to trade deal as new global tariffs kick in

Japanese trade minister Ryosei Akazawa warned against any tariff moves that could leave the country worse off than under a Japan-US trade deal agreed to last year, during a phone call with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick as a new round of US tariffs is set to take effect.

Akazawa and Lutnick agreed that Japan and the US would work closely to ensure the swift and smooth implementation of projects that are part of a US$550 billion investment mechanism, during a phone call on Monday evening. The two spoke for about 40 minutes, according to a statement from Japan’s trade ministry.

“Minister Akazawa also conveyed that, as the US government rolls out new tariff measures, Japan’s position should not be worse off than its position under last year’s Japan-US agreement,” the statement read, referring to a deal under which Japan agreed to create the US$550 billion investment vehicle as the US lowered tariffs on auto imports from Japan to 15 per cent from 27.5 per cent.

The statement shows that confusion pertaining to US trade policies persists almost a year after Donald Trump first started threatening various duty levels shortly after taking office in January 2025.