"You will never be disappointed with The United States of America.”
So went President Donald Trump’s sign-off in his letters issued to 14 trading partners on Monday. But in Tokyo, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will be more than disappointed. He’s entitled to be furious.
Japan was among the first countries to begin talks after April’s "Liberation Day” tariff announcement. It has spent months in negotiations, with Ishiba’s envoy making seven trips to the U.S. for talks with Trump and other officials. The nation has been the largest investor in the U.S. for the past five years and is a crucial security ally. All that only to end up with a tariff rate 1 percentage point higher than first proposed three months ago.
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