AMN / WEB DESK
The United States and the Philippines concluded a trade deal last night after US President Donald Trump met his Philippine counterpart, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., at the White House. Mr Trump said Japan also will invest 550 billion dollars into the United States. He added that the US will receive 90 per cent of the profits. The US President did not specify how those investments would work or how profits would be calculated. No official term sheet has been released. Now Japan will open their country to trade, including cars and trucks, rice and certain other Agricultural Products, and other things. The trade agreement comes after months of negotiations with key trading partners like the European Union, South Korea, India and dozens of others at a standstill as Trump’s latest August 1 deadline for higher tariffs looms.
Mr Trump, in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, said the US and the Philippines concluded the Trade Deal, whereby the Philippines is going to open the market with the United States. He said under the trade deal, the Philippines will pay a 19 per cent Tariff. Mr Marcos said their bilateral ties have evolved into an important relationship between the two nations.
Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru also confirmed the agreement. He said that the two countries agreed to halve the 25 percent additional tariffs imposed on cars and its parts from April this year. He explained the levies will be set at 15 percent, which includes the existing 2.5 percent base duty the US had set for automobiles.
Ishiba added that Japan was the first country to be able to negotiate with the Trump administration a reduction in tariffs on automobiles and auto parts with no set quota. In May, the US and the UK struck a deal reducing tariffs to 10 percent for up to 100,000 UK-made vehicles.
He also said that Japan won’t be treated less favorably than other countries if tariffs are imposed in the future on goods deemed important for economic security, such as semiconductors and medicines.
Ishiba added that Japanese companies will invest in the United States across key sectors vital to economic security, such as semiconductors, medicine, steel, shipbuilding, critical minerals, aviation, energy, cars, as well as AI and quantum technology. He stressed that he believes the agreement is critical in terms of Japan’s economic security.
Ishiba expressed confidence that the deal will help protect Japan’s national interests, foster job creation alongside the United States and help both countries play key roles on the world stage.
Tokyo stock prices surge after Trump’s announcement
Japan’s benchmark stock index rose to the highest intra-day level in about a year after Trump announced the trade agreement.
The index breached the 41,000 mark for the first time since July last year. The Nikkei 225 briefly jumped more than 1,300 points or 3 percent. Automakers led the gainers after the US imposed a lower additional import tariff on Japanese cars than expected.
Investors bought a wide range of shares right after the opening on the view the trade deal removes some uncertainties about Japan’s economic outlook.