Trump Floats Japan Tariff, Hassett Says Deals After July 4
President Trump has threatened new tariffs on Japan, citing their refusal to accept US rice exports amid a rice shortage. His economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, indicated that the White House plans to finalize trade deals after the July 4 holiday, despite ongoing negotiations with Japan. Trump has paused tariffs to allow for negotiations, but only limited agreements have been reached so far. Following Trump's comments, Tokyo stocks fell, reflecting market concerns over the potential trade tensions.
(Bloomberg) --
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President Donald Trump threatened to impose a fresh tariff level on Japan, while his top economic adviser said the White House aims to finalize deals with partners after the July 4 holiday.
Trump’s latest round of brinkmanship with Tokyo on Monday comes just over a week before a July 9 deadline for higher tariffs to restart for dozens of trading partners, including Japan. He cited what he said was the country’s unwillingness to accept US rice exports.
“They won’t take our RICE, and yet they have a massive rice shortage,” Trump posted on social media. “In other words, we’ll just be sending them a letter, and we love having them as a Trading Partner for many years to come.”
Trump for weeks has sought to exert leverage with negotiating partners ahead of the deadline, vowing to cut short talks with those he sees as being difficult and instead send them letters setting tariff rates.
The president paused his country-by-country tariffs in April to allow time for negotiations. Since then, he and his team have repeatedly pledged that a slate of deals was weeks away. But to date, the only two agreements announced have been broad frameworks with China and the UK.
Meanwhile, White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett signaled Monday that agreements with several governments would be announced after US Independence Day. He said the administration’s focus has been on passing Trump’s massive tax and spending bill through Congress before the holiday.
“It might be that people take an hour or two off on the Fourth to watch the fireworks and then we’ll get back, and we’re going to start to announce the frameworks,” Hassett said Monday on Fox Business. “We’re expecting to meet with the president and explain the frameworks that have been negotiated and see if he approves or not.”
Talks between the US and Japan are expected to continue despite Trump’s latest threat, according to Hassett.
“Nothing is over. I know what he just posted, but there’ll still be discussions right up to the end,” he told reporters.
Stocks in Tokyo fell shortly after the market opened Tuesday morning, with the Topix benchmark down as much as 0.7% as traders digested the latest Trump comments.
The rice supply shortage that the US president cited has frustrated Japanese consumers already unhappy about an ongoing cost-of-living crunch. Rice prices have doubled in the last year, prompting Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s government to release emergency reserves into the market and sideline conventional distribution channels.