Japan Tariff Negotiator Says US Reciprocal Tariffs Will Be Lowered

Japan’s tariff negotiator said the US tariffs on Japanese goods will go down.

Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s minister of economic revitalization, who has been steering trade talks with the US, made the announcement via an X post on Tuesday.

In his post, Akazawa said that on Tuesday, September 16, the tariffs imposed by the US on Japan will be revised.

Citing a US federal register document, which he said would be published later on Tuesday, he added that tariffs on automobiles and automotive parts from Japan will also be reduced.

This is the latest development in negotiations between the US and Japan, one of its largest trading partners.

In April, President Donald Trump imposed a blanket 25% tariff on automobile and auto parts imports coming into the US.

In July, he announced that all goods from Japan would be subject to a 25% tariff. Later that month, he reduced tariffs on the country from 25% to 15%, saying this was because Japan would be investing $550 billion in the US.

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Trump reiterated this in an executive order in September. The order said that in return for the tariff reduction, Japan would provide American producers in sectors like aerospace, agriculture, food, energy, and automobiles with “breakthrough openings in market access.”

The incoming tariff reduction will be a welcome relief for Japanese automakers, who are bracing for a massive financial hit from the tariffs.

In an August earnings report, Toyota said it expected Trump’s auto tariffs to slash its operating income in 2026 by 1.4 trillion yen, or $9.5 billion.

In August, Honda also reported that it could see its profits this year plummet due to tariffs. The automaker said it could face a 450 billion yen profit loss this year because of the added levies.

It’s not just Japanese automakers that are feeling the squeeze. In July, General Motors said tariffs had cut $1 billion off its profits in the latest quarter.

Representatives for the White House and the Japanese embassy in Singapore did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.