Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Japan’s US auto exports drop as tariff fears build

Japan’s US auto exports drop as tariff fears build

TOKYO – Japanese auto exports to the United States fell almost a quarter in May, data showed, as worries over Donald Trump’s tariffs grow with Tokyo and Washington yet to strike a deal. 

Roughly 8% of jobs are tied to the auto industry in Japan, which is home to the world’s top-selling carmaker Toyota as well as Honda, Nissan and other giants.

The government is seeking relief from the 25% US vehicle tariffs and other trade levies, but no agreement has been reached despite several rounds of talks.

Japan posted a trade deficit for the second straight month in May, with imports exceeding the value of exports by 637.6 billion yen (US$4.4 billion).

To the United States specifically, exports fell around 11%, with automotive exports down 24.7% on-year, finance ministry data showed.

“Car exports to the United States in May declined both by volume and value, but the impact of lower prices is overwhelmingly large,” NLI Research Institute’s Taro Saito said, adding that export volume declined 3.9%.

“It appears that automakers are making large-scale price cuts so as to absorb the cost of the tariffs,” he added.

Japan, a key US ally and its biggest investor, is subject to the same 10% baseline tariffs imposed on most nations plus steeper levies on cars, steel and aluminium.

Trump also announced an additional 24% “reciprocal” tariff on Japan in early April but later paused it along with similar measures on other countries.

In Canada after the G7 summit, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told reporters that US tariffs were “hitting many Japanese companies’ profits”.

The situation “could have a grave impact on both Japan and the United States as well as the world economy, directly and indirectly,” he warned.

Ishiba held face-to-face talks with Trump on Monday but no breakthrough on the trade impasse was announced.

“As there are still some points where both sides disagree, we have not reached an agreement on the package as a whole,” he said.

“I had frank discussions with president Trump, and we agreed to instruct the relevant cabinet members to advance further discussions.”

Japan’s trade surplus with the United States shrank 4.7% on-year in May — the first contraction in the past five months, even as imports from the country dropped 13.5%. – Nampa/AFP