Japan digs on rice and cars as it talks to us

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Japan said that it will not sacrifice its farms to secure tariff exemptions from the United States, as Tokyo and Washington harden their positions in the face of rice diplomacy and the hopes of an imminent trade agreement between the allies.

The comments came from Japanese Prime Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi on Tuesday in the role of Donald Trump JapanAmong other countries, “spoiled” and the latest round of commercial negotiations in Washington ended without clear progress.

Hashi said: “We are not thinking about doing anything that would sacrifice the farm sector,” Hashi said.

Weeks of negotiations have produced a number of proposals aimed at breaking a dead end, including Japan, to buy more American energy, agricultural products and new joint financing mechanisms for American manufacturing, according to people familiar with the talks.

But no one succeeded in transferring the Trump administration’s commitment to reduce its trade deficit with Japan, which amounted to $ 63 billion for the Japanese fiscal year ending in March.

In a post on his social site, in fact on Monday, Trump focused his anger on rice.

Trump wrote: “To show people how spoiled countries have become in the United States of America, and I have great respect for Japan, they will not take our rice, yet they have a great shortage of rice,” Trump wrote.

The combination of bad harvest and politics is to pay rice prices to More than twice Last year, causing a temporary shortage, huge lists of cheaper rice and forcing the government to take advantage of the strategic rice reserves to provide relief.

The production of Japanese rice for decades was an intense political issue. The crop tops great national importance, and farmers were a decisive base to support the long -standing liberal democratic Party.

The United States exports some rice tariffs to Japan under the “minimum access to a global trade organization”, but Japan imposes a tax on any imports exceeding 770,000 tons.

Tokyo was initially contemplating a rapid trade agreement with Trump. But with both sides digging, the Democratic Democratic Party is now facing the possibility of an election campaign in the House of Representatives on July 20 without an agreement, according to people with direct knowledge of negotiations. This will increase the risks of Prime Minister Shigo Ishiba, who suffers from low approval classifications and has a relatively fragile contract on Parliament.

It also comes at a time when clouds accommodate a Japanese economy that depends greatly on the auto industry. The car industry in the country is directly and indirectly employs more than 5.5 million people, according to the Association of auto manufacturers in Japan.

Tokyo has A complete student is constantly exempted From a 25 percent of Washington blanket tariffs on car imports, as well as canceling the 24 percent “mutual” definitions that Trump threatened to impose on Japan. These fees were stopped until the deadline on July 9 to sign a commercial deal.

Two people close to discussions said that Japan’s chances of securing any exemption from the short -term tariffs were low and fall.

In an interview with Fox News at the end of last week, Trump clarified the “unfair” commercial relationship in sharp phrases, claiming that the United States (taking) millions and millions of Japanese cars, while the Japanese “will not take our cars.”

The largest car companies in Japan have established major manufacturing facilities in the United States for decades. The total car and truck exports to the United States reached 1.37 million vehicles in 2024, where the auto sector represents about 28 percent of Japanese goods exports to the United States.

The United States, in turn, exports a few vehicles to Japan, where American auto models are generally seen as very large and consumes fuel.

“I can send a message (message) to Japan:” Dear Mr. Japan, here is the story, “Trump continued.” You will pay a 25 percent tariff on your cars. “