Tariff trade deal reached with Japan

It is now cheaper for Japanese companies to import cars into the US than it is for American companies to import cars from Mexico and Canada. So the tariff deal is 25% on all automotive in the whole automotive industry. Any car that comes into the US is 25% tariff. But Japan just struck a deal with Donald Trump that says they get a 15% tariff. So their tariff went down from 25% to 15%. So it is now cheaper for Toyota, Honda, Nissan, and those companies to bring a car from Japan into the US, which is crazy. The lobbying group for the big three in the US is not happy about this. They are already coming out and saying this is hurting American brands and helping the Japanese economy and helping the Japanese brands at the expense of American car companies that actually bring money into the US. I mean, the money that Japan makes on these cars goes back to the Japanese economy, not really into the US economy. So, people are rightfully mad. There’s a side part of that deal where Japan has lowered their restrictions on American cars to basically say if it fits American EPA and environmental standards and crash standards, you can sell it in in Japan. So, we can now export our cars to Japan that historically they weren’t buying. They buy 1% of Japanese new cars every year are American. That is basically none. It’s 45,000 cars a year because they buy about 5 million, 4 and a.5 million new cars every year and it’s basically nothing. If that goes up to 2%, that’s still pretty low. I don’t know how many American cars Japan’s really trying to buy. Are we going to see, you know, dual F250s suddenly running around Japan? Probably not. Are we going to see a couple Mustangs? Maybe. And some Corvettes, maybe. But like that’s kind of small potatoes in a way. It’s not really a big chunk of, you know, what the US is really looking for. I think GM would rather the tariff go down than be able to sell some Corvettes in Japan. But what do I know? I’m not a GM executive. What do you guys think? Is this good for Americans or is this just bad for the US auto industry in a

26 Comments

  1. US manufacturers should focus on their quality. I just traded in a 2023 Chevy truck for a Toyota. Chevy was playing too many warranty games with me.

  2. I think that’s just the tip of the iceberg coop. This also opens trade opportunities for other American made products and sets a tone with other countries that fair means fair.

  3. Truly "American" in the literal sense as in North American continent. Not US brands. Stellantis is Italian and made in Mexico and Canada. GM is Chinese and made in Mexico and Canada. Ford is US owned, but made in Mexico and Canada.

  4. The Japanese have kept most American vehicles out of their country, but now they have, for the first time ever, thrown the doors wide open to our cars and invested $500 billion in the US for slightly better tariffs. Ford & GM can come home or keep being Mexican products subject to higher tariffs.

  5. Tariffs shmariffs! What does anybody want? Recalls? No! Engineering flaws that the dealerships won't repair until the warranty runs out? No! Parts that are designed to fail while you're still making payments? No! A product that is specifically designed to be a money pit by the end of the average payment schedule? No! Do we want to buy American dependability? Sure, but that's not for sale anymore. Dependability has been branded as unsustainable. Don't blame Japan for selling us vehicles that are a bit more reliable, efficient, and cheaper per mile than our foreign made domestic brands.
    Our problems are philosophical, not economic. We could build a car to last a very long time. But is that economical? Toyota knows this, so they just build their products to last significantly longer in order to gain market share. They too, could provide more durability.
    Volvo, in the 80s built 500k mile family vehicles. You could replace the brakes with the the tools in your tire change kit that came with the car.

  6. American companies should get their asses back to America immediately. The big 3 should have never been allowed to leave the US! Considering tax payers bailed them out… then they fled to Mexico for cheap labor.

  7. well if american auto makers could be trusted to build a reliable product that they actually stood behind, they could get a better deal as well.

  8. Nice, 3JZ,s. I'm in the middle on it. I like Japanese stuff but I want America first so blah. Don't think it's gonna change much other than look good and hopefully provide strength in the region cuz no trusty china.

  9. The US brands left the US after they were bailed out with our tax dollars. Meanwhile Honda, Toyota, and Nissan actually produce more vehicles here in the US than the big 3. Japanese car companies are employing US workers.

  10. F250’s don’t come with a dually option so that isn’t happening but your point stands. Good old Trump. Day one gonna defeat taliban. Day one gonna stop the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Gonna release the Epstein files. The lies and betrayal go on from the first sentence he said. Plush he’s a pedo.

  11. It's not Japan or the Japanese companies that pay the tariff, but the American company that takes possession of that import that pays the Tariff. Independent dealers are going to get hurt either way