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Japan has said that it would not sacrifice its farmers to guarantee tariff exemptions from the United States, while Tokyo and Washington have hardened their positions in an impasse of rice diplomacy and that hopes of an imminent trade agreement between the allies have disappeared.
The comments of Japanese cabinet chief Yoshimasa Hayashi came on Tuesday when Donald Trump threw Japan, among other countries, such as “spoiled” and the last series of commercial negotiations in Washington ended without clear progress.
“We do not think of doing anything that would sacrifice the agricultural sector,” said Hayashi.
Weeks of negotiations have produced a number of proposals aimed at breaking a dead end, including Japan buying more American energy and agriculture products and new joint financing mechanisms for American manufacturing, according to people familiar with talks.
But none managed to move the Trump administration’s commitment to reduce its trade deficit with Japan, which amounted to $ 63 billion for Japanese exercise ending in March.
In an article on his social site Truth on Monday, Trump focused his anger on rice.
“To show people how spoiled countries have become with regard to the United States of America, and I have great respect for Japan, they will not take our rice, and yet they have a shortage of massive rice,” wrote Trump.
The combination of a bad harvest and politics led rice prices more than double last year, causing temporary shortages, huge queues for cheaper rice and forcing the government to exploit its strategic rice reserve to relieve.
Japanese rice production has been an intensely political problem for decades for decades. The harvest commands disproportionate national importance and farmers have been a crucial base for support for the Liberal Democratic Party for a long time.
The United States exports a little rice price in Japan as part of a “minimum access” agreement from the world organization, but Japan requires a levy to any import beyond a limit of 770,000 tonnes.
Tokyo had first hoped for an accelerated trade agreement with Trump. But with the two dugs, the LDP is now faced with the probability of a campaign for the elections of the upper chamber on July 20 without an agreement in place, according to people with direct knowledge of the negotiations. This will increase the risk for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who suffers from low approval notes and has a relatively fragile taking of Parliament.
It also occurs while the clouds come together on a Japanese economy which depends strongly on its automotive industry. The country’s automotive industry employs more than 5.5 million people directly and indirectly, according to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.
Tokyo has always demanded a complete exemption from the 25% price of 25% of Washington on automobile imports, as well as the revocation of 24% “reciprocal” rates that Trump threatened to impose in Japan. These samples were interrupted up to a deadline of July 9 to sign a trade agreement.
But the chances of Japan to obtain a short -term tariff exemption seemed weak and lowered, said two people close to the discussions.
In an interview with Fox News last weekend, Trump deplored the “unfair” commercial relationship in frank terms, saying that the United States “[takes] Millions and millions of Japanese cars, while the Japanese “do not take our cars”.
The largest Japanese car companies have created large manufacturing facilities in the United States during the decades. Exports from cars and trucks to the United States totaled 1.37 million vehicles in 2024, the automotive sector representing around 28% of Japanese goods exports to the United States.
The United States, in turn, export few vehicles to Japan, where American cars models are generally considered too large and fuel consumers.
“I could send one [letter] In Japan: “Dear Mr. Japan, here is the story,” continued Trump. “You will pay a 25% rate on your cars. »»
