Japan’s trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa confirmed that U.S. will reduce tariffs on Japanese imports

U.S. duties on Japanese goods will be lowered, Japan’s tariff negotiator said Tuesday.

Akazawa wrote in a X post that United States will revise tariffs on Japan Tuesday, September 16. He cited a Federal Register notice due that day and said duties on cars and auto parts from Japan will be cut.

In April, President Donald Trump set a 25% across-the-board duty on imports of cars and their parts. By July, he announced that every product coming from Japan would face a 25% levy.

Later in July, the rate applied to Japan was cut to 15%, with officials citing a planned $550 billion investment in the United States.

In September, Trump repeated the policy in an executive order. It said that, in return for the lower rate, Japan would give American producers in aerospace, agriculture, food, energy and autos “breakthrough openings in market access.”

Expected U.S. tariff cut to ease costs for Japanese automakers

Toyota’s August report projected that the auto duties would trim operating income in 2026 by 1.4 trillion yen, about $9.5 billion. Toyota also cut its full-year operating profit forecast by 16%, citing higher costs from U.S. tariffs on cars, parts, steel and aluminium.

“It’s honestly very difficult for us to predict what will happen regarding the market environment,” Takanori Azuma, Toyota’s head of finance, told a briefing, vowing to keep making cars for US customers, regardless of tariff impact.

Also in August, Honda warned it could see profits this year fall because of tariffs, estimating a 450 billion yen hit.

In July, General Motors reported a $1 billion reduction in its latest quarter’s profit due to the tariffs.

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