【Q＆A】“日本にっぽんに関税かんぜい25％” 政府せいふの受け止うけとめは？経済けいざい影響えいきょうは？

President Trump of the United States revealed on his social media on the 7th a letter addressed to Prime Minister Ishiba notifying him of new tariff rates.

A 25% tariff will be imposed on imports from Japan starting August 1.

What is the Japanese governments response? What is the impact on the economy? Economic Desk Editor Yosuke Ikegawa explains.

Q How does the Japanese government view this? Ikegawa Desk For Japan, this is an extremely tough situation.

Japan has been aiming for a comprehensive agreement, including the handling of automobile tariffs, but this time, the United States has unilaterally imposed a 25% tariff rate.

The figure of 25% exceeds the 24% reciprocal tariff on Japan announced this April.

President Trumps letter clearly expresses strong dissatisfaction with Japan over the trade deficit, and Japans requests for a review of tariff measures have not been reflected at all.

What is the impact on the Japanese economy? Ikegawa Desk The total amount of exports from Japan to the United States last year exceeded 21 trillion yen, making the U.S. the largest export destination by country.

In addition to the automobile tariffs and the additional tariffs on steel and aluminum that have already been imposed, if this new tariff is actually implemented at the 25% level, there is a risk that it will have a significant impact on the Japanese economy.

According to experts, these tariff measures will cause Japans GDP, or Gross Domestic Product, to be 0.

There are also estimates that it could be pushed down by more than 8%.

The newly announced tariffs are expected to deal a blow to a wide range of industries, including machinery and food, raising concerns that they will affect not only corporate profits but also wages and employment.

Q: What will happen to Japan-U.S. negotiations in the future?

Ikegawa Desk On the 8th, the Japanese government plans to hold a meeting of the Comprehensive Countermeasures Headquarters, with Prime Minister Ishiba also in attendance.

It appears that they will confirm their policy to continue negotiations with the American side in order to reach an agreement that benefits both Japan and the United States.

Japanese government officials have stated that there is still room for negotiation until the tariffs actually take effect on the first of next month, and that they will continue negotiating without giving up.

So far, Japan has aimed for a package agreement by having Economic Revitalization Minister Akazawa visit the United States seven times for negotiations, proposing measures to reduce the trade deficit through large-scale investments and increased imports of American products, while also demanding a review of a series of measures such as automobile tariffs and reciprocal tariffs.

However, President Trump has repeatedly made remarks that increase pressure on Japan, such as expressing dissatisfaction that trade in automobiles and rice is unfair, making the negotiations difficult.

Some Japanese government officials have voiced a strong stance, saying, Even if tariffs are raised, Japans proposal will not change. However, the reality is that Japan is also faced with the need to come up with a breakthrough solution to reach an agreement in the negotiations.

The focus will be on what kind of strategy will be used in future negotiations.