Tokyo, February 24 (EFE).- Japan has asked the United States that the impact of the new 15% global tariffs, which are expected to come into force this Tuesday after the US Supreme Court’s reversal of reciprocal rates, not be higher than that of the trade framework reached between both countries last year.
The Japanese Minister of Economy, Commerce and Industry, Ryosei Akazawa, urged in a telephone conversation with the US Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, that “it be guaranteed that the treatment of Japan is no less favorable” than previously agreed, the ministry said in a statement.
The Japanese government spokesman, Minoru Kihara, stated in a press conference that the archipelago will “carefully” study the ruling of the US Supreme Court that invalidated last Friday the tariff policy of US President Donald Trump.
Kihara added that Japan is “watching closely and with interest” the ramifications of Trump’s new global tax on the bilateral trade agreement, reached last July and which includes Japanese investment commitments valued at $550 billion.
Among the levies affected by the ruling of the US court include the global base tariff on foreign imports and the so-called “reciprocal” levies on the trading partners of the world’s largest economy, along with additional tariffs of 25% on Mexico and Canada.
Japan’s request comes a week after Trump revealed the first Japanese investment projects on US soil, valued at $36 billion, and which according to Tokyo will not be affected by the decision of the US Supreme Court.
Japanese investments include a massive construction project for the largest natural gas infrastructure in the US state of Ohio (western part of the country), as well as two others related to the liquefied natural gas (LNG) and critical minerals sectors. EFE
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