Trump Seals Japan Tariff Deal as Detroit 3 Push Back

Jul. 23, 2025 | |

President Donald Trump announced his administration has reached a trade deal that will reduce tariffs on U.S.-sold, Japan-built vehicles to 15% and adds $550 billion in new Japanese investments in American enterprises.

“We just completed a massive Deal with Japan, perhaps the largest Deal ever made,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post, later adding Japan will “open their country” to automotive and agricultural imports.

Additional tariffs on imports from Japan were set to escalate to 25% on Aug. 1. The same deadline still applies to Canada and Mexico, but with hikes of 35% and 30%, respectively.

Matt Blunt, the former Missouri governor who serves as president of the American Automotive Policy Council, says that puts Ford, General Motors and Stellantis — which AAPC represents — at a serious disadvantage.

“Any deal that charges a lower tariff for Japanese imports with virtually no U.S. content than the tariff imposed on North American built vehicles with high U.S. content is a bad deal for U.S. industry and U.S. auto workers,” Blunt tells Bloomberg News.

Read more at Bloomberg