U.S. President Donald Trump has accused Japan of engaging in “unfair” trade practices in the automobile sector and urged the country to increase imports of U.S. goods, including oil, to help reduce the American trade deficit. His remarks come as Japan seeks to avert a new round of auto tariffs set to take effect next month.
In an interview aired Sunday on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures, Trump said that Japan continues to benefit disproportionately from auto trade with the United States, while limiting access for American vehicles. “They won’t take our cars, and yet we take millions and millions of their cars into the United States,” he said. “It’s not fair.”
Tokyo has been in discussions with Washington to prevent the imposition of a 25% tariff targeting automobile imports. Japanese officials are also trying to avoid a broader 24% reciprocal tariff set to begin on July 9 unless a bilateral agreement is reached.
Trump suggested that Japan could help balance the trade relationship by importing more U.S. energy resources and other goods. “Now we have oil. They could take a lot of oil, they could take a lot of other things,” he said.
Japan exported approximately 21 trillion yen ($145 billion) worth of goods to the U.S. last year, with automobiles accounting for nearly 28% of the total, underscoring the stakes for its export-reliant economy.