'Very Exciting Time': Donald Trump Announces 'Massive' US-Japan Trade Deal With 15% Tariff

Last Updated:July 23, 2025, 07:12 IST

Donald Trump has announced a new trade agreement with Japan, saying that Japan will invest $550 billion in the US, and join a joint LNG venture in Alaska.

US President Donald Trump (Reuters Image)

The United States has struck a “massive" trade deal with Japan, Donald Trump announced on Tuesday, placing a 15 per cent tax on goods imported from the nation.

Speaking later at the White House, Trump expressed fresh optimism that Japan would form a joint venture with Washington to support a gas pipeline in Alaska long sought by his administration.

“We concluded the one deal, and now we’re going to conclude another one because they’re forming a joint venture with us in Alaska for the LNG. They’re all set to make that deal," Trump told the media.

In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump mentioned the deal would include $550 billion of Japanese investments in the United States.

He also said that Japan would increase market access to American producers of cars, trucks, rice and certain agricultural products, among other items.

“We just completed a massive Deal with Japan, perhaps the largest Deal ever made," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“Japan will invest, at my direction, $550 Billion Dollars into the United States, which will receive 90% of the Profits. This Deal will create Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs — There has never been anything like it," the US President mentioned.

“Perhaps most importantly, Japan will open their Country to Trade including Cars and Trucks, Rice and certain other Agricultural Products, and other things."

“Japan will pay Reciprocal Tariffs to the United States of 15%. This is a very exciting time for the United States of America, and especially for the fact that we will continue to always have a great relationship with the Country of Japan," Trump added.

The 15 per cent tax on imported Japanese goods is a drop from the 25 per cent rate that Trump, in a recent letter to Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, said would be levied starting August 1.

Speaking early on Wednesday in Tokyo, Ishiba said he had received an initial report from his trade negotiator in Washington.

Trump’s announcement followed a meeting with Japan’s top tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, at the White House on Tuesday, Reuters quoted a person familiar with the matter.

Japan is the most significant of the clutch of deals Trump has struck so far, with two-way trade in goods between the two superpowers totalling nearly $230 billion in 2024, and Japan running a trade surplus of nearly $70 billion, according to Reuters.

Japan is the fifth-largest US trading partner in goods, US Census Bureau data show.

Meanwhile, the US-Japan trade deal announcement sent stocks in Japan higher, led by big gains in automakers as Honda, Toyota and Nissan all gained 6 per cent or more, and US equity index futures gained ground. The yen strengthened against the dollar.

ALSO READ | Trump Administration Revokes Visas Of Brazilian Judges Citing ‘Witch-Hunt’ Against Bolsonaro

News world 'Very Exciting Time': Donald Trump Announces 'Massive' US-Japan Trade Deal With 15% Tariff