Tag - tariffs

 
 

TARIFFS

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent before a meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 19, 2025
Ishiba and Bessent say 'good' trade agreement still possible
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba urged U.S. Treasury chief Scott Bessent to continue talks with Japan’s chief negotiator to achieve a win-win deal.
A Sanseito campaign van in Shinjuku. The populist party is gaining ground and challenging the more centrist parties.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 18, 2025
Japanese markets brace for triple whammy if opposition wins big
Bonds, stocks and the yen could be destabilized if spendthrift parties gain influence.
A member of staff works on a production line that manufactures small metal coils at Mitsuwa Electric in Tokyo on July 11.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 18, 2025
Japan's smaller firms say they are ready to adapt to Trump tariffs
Millions of small- and medium-sized firms that make up 99.7% of Japan's companies are world-class in their specialist niche, giving rise to confidence about weathering tariffs.
"Japan said that tariffs aren’t really the right tool to fix excessive current accounts imbalances,” Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato told reporters Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 18, 2025
Finance minister says tariffs not right tool to fix trade imbalances
Katsunobu Kato's comments come as the global economy braces for higher U.S. tariffs.
Once seen as an unlikely prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba has struggled to deliver on promises, mishandled ties with U.S. President Donald Trump and now faces an election where the odds don’t look good for his party to come out victorious.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 18, 2025
A trade deal fumble could be Ishiba’s last mistake
Ishiba already leads a coalition that lacks a majority in the Lower House, and another bad showing Sunday will likely mean Japan is looking for its third leader in as many years.
Mazda employees walk at the company's main plant in the town of Fuchu, Hiroshima Prefecture, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 18, 2025
Japan voters see little hope for tariff reprieve in carmaker Mazda's hometown
The economic engine of Hiroshima Prefecture faces U.S. tariffs of 25% on cars, a dispiriting prospect for an electorate already battling inflation.
Campaign posters in Tokyo. Voters in Japan put immediate economic issues ahead of longer-term concerns about the effects of tariffs.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 17, 2025
Trump tariffs fail to register with Japanese voters ahead of key election
Only 8% of voters surveyed by NHK rated tariffs as their top priority.
Since the Sino-U.S. trade conflict began in 2018, China has used it to strengthen self-reliance, sharpen its strategies and turn Donald Trump’s tariffs into fuel for its long-term global resilience. 
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 17, 2025
China is winning Donald Trump’s trade war
While China does not want a trade war or to decouple, it is willing to risk a trade war that the United States may lose — and it would rather decouple than kowtow to Trump.
Exports measured by value dropped 0.5% in June from a year earlier, apparently reflecting the impact from U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 17, 2025
Japan’s exports fall as U.S. tariffs stoke recession risks
Exports measured by value dropped 0.5% in June from a year earlier, led by cars and steel, the Finance Ministry reported.
U.S. President Donald Trump in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in 2017. Six months into his second term, Trump has softened his harsh campaign rhetoric that focused on the U.S.’ massive trade deficit with China and resulting job losses.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 17, 2025
Trump softens tone on China to secure Xi summit and a trade deal
U.S. President Donald Trump's warmer posture toward China contrasts with his threats against other trading partners to ravage their economies with crushing tariffs.
U.S. President Donald Trump, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum (left) and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on Tuesday
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 16, 2025
Trump signals the end of the road for Japan tariff negotiations
U.S. President Donald Trump's 25% "reciprocal" rate might simply be allowed to go into effect on Aug. 1
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro attends a rally in Sao Paulo on June 29.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 16, 2025
Trump tariffs put Bolsonaro and Brazilian right in a bind 
Three people close to right-wing ex-President Jair Bolsonaro said they were stunned by Trump's latest tariff move and fear it may do more harm than good.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping attends a meeting during the the Shanghai Cooperation Organization forum in Beijing on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 16, 2025
China’s growth momentum offers Xi rare window to fight deflation
Gross domestic product beat expectations to grow 5.2% between April and June, bringing the official 5% expansion goal for the year within reach.
Jerome Powell, the embattled chairman of the Board of Governors of the U.S. Federal Reserve, appears before a House committee in Washington on June 24.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 16, 2025
Wary that Fed chief may be ousted, investors protect portfolios from inflation risk
A Fed chief warmer to cutting rates could have a mixed effect on equities but could weaken the U.S. dollar, increase volatility in the Treasurys market and raise longer-term rates.
The IPC Container Terminal at Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta in April last year
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 16, 2025
Trump says Indonesia goods to face 19% tariff under new pact
Indonesia also agreed to purchase $15 billion in U.S. energy, $4.5 billion worth of agricultural products and 50 Boeing jets, many of them 777’s.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang speaks at the opening ceremony of the third China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) in Beijing on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 16, 2025
U.S. says Nvidia's sales of AI chips to China are part of rare earths talks
The planned resumption is a reversal of an export restriction imposed in April that is designed to keep the most advanced AI chips out of Chinese hands.
Tokyo stocks are underperforming shares in other large markets globally.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 15, 2025
Tokyo stocks hit by a perfect storm of tariffs, politics and budget worries
The Nikkei 225 is down about 6% from its peak, hit in July 2024.
Bottles of Chianti at the international wine and spirits fair Vinitaly in Verona, Italy, on April 6
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 15, 2025
Italy's Chianti wine makers eye South America, Asia amid U.S. tariff threat
Italy currently exports more wine to the U.S. than any other country, but producers are increasingly looking to diversify amid the trade uncertainty.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba arrives at the Prime Minister's Office in Nagatacho, Tokyo, on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 15, 2025
Ishiba may meet top U.S. tariff negotiator Scott Bessent in Tokyo this week
The prime minister is understood to be aiming for a path to agreement in the ongoing bilateral tariff negotiations by meeting with the U.S. top negotiator in person.
"The odds are high that the U.S. and Japan can come to an agreement," former U.S. Ambassador to Japan William Hagerty said.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 15, 2025
Ex-U.S. envoy William Hagerty optimistic about tariff talks with Japan
"The odds are high that the U.S. and Japan can come to an agreement," Hagerty said in an interview.

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