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The Japanese Prime Minister said that “every option” is considered as a Tokyo announcements from the announcement of Donald Trump about 25 percent of car imports, in a significant escalation of the Washington Commercial War.
Shiger’s comments in parliament followed after Trump discovered his the latest salvoWhich he said he would take effect on April 2, when Washington is expected to apply a series of reciprocal tariffs against US partners and allies.
“This is permanent, 100 percent,” Trump said about a new car tariffs.
Japanese car manufacturers on Thursday fell between 2 percent and 5 percent on Thursday.
“We need to consider the best option for Japan’s national interest,” Ishiba said. “We consider any option to achieve the most appropriate answer.”
JapanYoshimas Hayashi spokeswoman described the tariffs, which would be widely considered in the industry with the driving force of the Japanese economy, as “exceptional regret”.
He added that the trade policy of Trump’s administration could have a great impact on bilateral connections, a global economy and a multilateral trade system.
The Isib’s February Meeting with Trump in Washington was initially proclaimed as a success due to the re-confirmation of the US-Japan Alliance.
But traders in Tokyo said that the unusual blunt ibibi -a – along with the language of “every option” – hinted Growing panic in Japanese corridors of power through the firmness of the relationship.
The tariff striking waves echoed elsewhere in Asia. The shares of the largest car manufacturers in South Korea fell, and Hyundai and its associated Kia fell about 4 percent on Thursday.
Japan has been going to the great in recent weeks Lobi Washington for exemption From Tariff, emphasizing his status of the greatest supplier of direct foreign investment in the United States.
The Minister of Economy and Trade in the country visited Washington this month, but the efforts did not provide exemptions that Japan hoped.
“Japan is the biggest investor in the United States, so we wonder if it makes sense of [the Trump administration] apply unique tariffs to all countries. This is the point we have raised and we will continue to do it, “Ishiba said.
Although Japanese car manufacturers have built significant production facilities in the US, their supply chains rely strongly on Canada and Mexico.
Japan is the largest exporter of finished vehicles in the US after Mexico, where Japanese companies are dominant manufacturers. In 2024, Japan sent cars worth $ 40 billion to the United States, representing $ 28.3 percent of his total export to the US.
Analysts Goldman Sachs said that impact on Japanese exports could be “big” because cars and parts make such a large share of exports to the United States.
But they said that the overall economic impact would be “a bit limited” because Japan would not lose competitiveness towards other car imports, evaluating a hit on a 0.1 percentage point.
Masanori Katayama, the chairman of the Japanese car manufacturers association, a lobbying group, previously warned that a “significant adjustment to production” would be required if US tariffs against Japan, Mexico and Canada were introduced.
But Julie Boot, analyst from Pelham Smithers, said the tariff pressure could “ironic” force the Japanese fragmented car production industry to consolidate because fewer groups will need support.
South Korea’s Ahn Duk-Geun Minister said Korean car manufacturers would experience “significant difficulties” because of the tariff and promised to announce the emergency measures next month, after a meeting on Thursday with industry managers.
Hyundai, whose A $ 7.6 billion hybrid factory and electric vehicles He started operating in Georgia on Thursday, also discovered plans to expand American production in the anticipation of Trump’s tariffs.
The car manufacturer on Tuesday announced $ 21 billion invested in the United States, including a steel factory of $ 5.8 billion in Louisiana, as well as the goal of production of 1.2 million vehicles a year in the country, from 700,000.
