Last night, President Trump truthed that the United States signed a trade deal with Japan in which Japan will open its markets to cars and trucks and “other things”. In return, the reciprocal tariff rate announced on 7 July of 25% has decreased to 15%. No joint statement has been released nor details on timing.
In addition to the $3.2 M in equipment and machinery imported last year from Japan into the United States under HS codes 8422 and 8438, we expect other machinery -- including imaging, computing and robotic systems and components are sourced from Japan. As such, the announced trade deal is somewhat positive in avoiding the 25% higher reciprocal tariff, however, the 15% negotiated tariff will still add to the tariff cost impact for importers in the United States.
Japan’s tariffs on U.S. manufactured equipment and machinery under HS codes 8422 and 8438 are already MFN-duty free, so no expected tariff benefits for US exporters to Japan under this announced agreement.
Expectations for a US-Japan trade deal were low given barriers to negotiations around Japan granting access to their rice and auto markets. However, the announced deal may place additional pressure on other Asian trading partners negotiating with the Trump Administration to finalize agreements before 1 August.
Please see below and attached an updated tariff rate tracker updated from President Trump’s announcements on new reciprocal tariffs and trade deals.
