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Japan has said that it will not sacrifice its farmers to secure tariff exemptions from the US, while Tokyo and Washington paved their positions in a stand-off of rice diplomacy and the hope of an imminent trade agreement between the faded allies.
The comments of the Japanese main cabinet secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi came on Tuesday when Donald Trump Japan, among other things, as “spoiled” and the final round of trade negotiations in Washington ended without clear progress.
“We are not thinking of doing anything that would sacrifice the farm sector,” said Hayashi.
Weeks of negotiations have yielded a number of proposals aimed at breaking an impasse, including Japan who buy more American energy and agricultural products and new joint financing mechanisms for American production, according to people who are familiar with the conversations.
But no one has succeeded in reducing the dedication of the Trump government to reduce its trade shortage with Japan, which was $ 63 billion for the Japanese financial year ending in March.
But in a post on his social social site on Monday, Trump concentrated his anger in rice.
“To show people how spoiled countries have become with regard to the United States of America, and I have a lot of respect for Japan, they will not take our rice, and yet they have a huge rice shortage,” wrote Trump.
The combination of a poor harvest and policy has more than doubled rice prices in the past year, causing temporary shortages, huge queues for cheaper rice and forcing the government to tap into its strategic riding reserve to provide relief.
Japanese rice production has been an intense political issue for decades. The crop has a great national interest and farmers have been a crucial basis of support for the long -term liberal democratic party.
The US exports some rice rate to Japan under a “minimal access” agreement of the World Trade Organization, but Japan imposes a levy for all input above a limit of 770,000 tons.
Tokyo had initially hoped for a fast trade agreement with Trump. But with both parties, the LDP is now confronted with the probability of a campaign for the elections of higher on July 20 without a deal, according to people with direct knowledge of negotiations. That will increase the risk for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who suffers low approval ratings and has a relatively vulnerable parliament.
It is also when clouds gather about a Japanese economy that is highly dependent on his car industry. The car industry of the country has more than 5.5 million people directly and indirectly, according to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.
Tokyo has consistently demanded a full exemption from the 25 percent of Washington’s dean about the import of the car, as well as the withdrawal of the 24 percent “reciprocal” rates that Trump threatened to impose Japan. Those taxes were paused into a deadline of July 9 to sign a trade agreement.
But the chances of Japan to secure a tariff exemption in the short term turned out to be low and fell, two people in the vicinity of discussions said.
In an interview with Fox News last weekend, Trump complained in blunt conditions the “unfair” trade relationship and claimed that the US “[takes] Millions and millions of ‘Japanese cars, while the Japanese’ do not take our cars’.
The largest car companies in Japan have set up large production facilities for decades. The export of car and trucks to the US was 1.37 million vehicles in 2024, whereby the automotive sector represents approximately 28 percent of Japanese goods to the US.
The US in turn exports few vehicles to Japan, where American car models are generally considered too large and consumer fuel.
‘I could send one [letter] To Japan: “Dear Mr. Japan, here’s the story,” “Trump continued.” You will pay a rate of 25 percent on your cars. “
