The U.S. may levy an up to 35% tariff on Japan once the Trump administration’s 90-day pause on country-specific duties expires next week, President Donald Trump told reporters Tuesday.
Japan is one of many countries that have been negotiating with the U.S. during the pause, which is slated to end July 9, but the two countries are unlikely to reach a trade deal before the expiration date, according to Trump.
The major sticking point in negotiations is the Trump administration’s desire for Japan to import rice and automobiles from the U.S., the president said.
“So what I’m going to do is I’ll write a letter, say ‘We thank you very much and we know you can’t do the kind of things that we need and therefore you’ll pay 30%, 35%’ or whatever the number is that we determined," Trump said.
The rates cited by Trump would be a hike from the 24% tariff he announced as part of his country-specific reciprocal levies in April. Implementation of those tariffs has been paused since April 9 in favor of a baseline 10% rate.
Japan’s Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Aoki Kazuhiko said Wednesday the country’s leadership is aware of the statements made by Trump but declined to comment further. However, he did say that the two countries remain engaged in negotiations.
The U.S. had a $68 billion trade deficit with Japan in 2024, per U.S. International Trade Commission data. The U.S. imported roughly $148 billion in goods from the country last year, which ranked as the sixth-highest total among all trading partners.
