Tariffs on Japanese products to be revised: US official
The United States will revise the way it applies the 15 pct reciprocal tariffs on Japanese products, a White House official told Jiji Press on Friday.
The official said that the tariffs on imports from Japan will be 15 pct including existing tax rates, as is the case for products from the European Union.
The remarks came after the 15 pct reciprocal tariffs on Japanese imports went into effect on Thursday.
Japanese economic revitalisation minister Ryosei Akazawa, who is in charge of tariff negotiations with the United States, said he confirmed with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington on Thursday that the US side would revise the executive order on reciprocal tariffs to reflect the Japan-US agreement reached in late July. The White House official also indicated that such a revision will be made.
According to the Japanese government, the US side agreed not to impose a reciprocal tariff on Japanese items that are already subject to tariffs of 15 per cent or higher, while setting the reciprocal tariff rate at 15 per cent for products with an existing levy of less than 15 per cent.
The EU came to a similar agreement with the United States. When the US reciprocal tariffs were introduced on Thursday, however, the exceptional measure was applied only to the EU.
Akazawa confirmed that the revision to the executive order would be made promptly. The White House official said Friday that the method of applying reciprocal tariffs to Japan would be revised to resemble that used with the EU once Washington reaches the stage of finalising its agreement with Tokyo.
According to Akazawa, the US side will amend the executive order on the reciprocal tariffs when a separate executive order to reduce the US tariff on Japanese vehicles is issued.
On the timing of the revision, Akazawa said: "It won't take six months or a year. The US side will respond within the bounds of common sense."
As 15 pct tariffs are currently being imposed on Japanese products, the corrected tariff rates will be applied retroactively, and importers in the United States will be refunded the overpaid amount.
Regarding the mix-up over the tariffs on Japan, Akazawa said, "An executive order that did not comply with the agreement between Japan and the United States was issued in the course of internal administrative procedures on the US side." He added that a US minister expressed regret over such administrative procedures.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
