Toyota Calls for Continued Improvement in US-Japan Trade Relations

According to foreign media reports, the day after President Trump announced a long-awaited trade agreement with Japan, Toyota Motor Corporation issued a statement expressing hope for continued improvement in US-Japan relations and called for further tariff reductions. The world's largest automaker stated, 'Toyota hopes that under the principles of fair and open trade, the development environment for the automotive industries in both Japan and the United States will continue to improve, including further tariff reductions.' Toyota, which has an annual production capacity of 10.6 million vehicles globally, praised the US-Japan negotiating teams in its statement, particularly emphasizing the positive evaluation of including the automotive industry in the US-Japan trade agreement. Estimates indicate that the 25% import tariff on automobiles and parts imposed by the US could result in a loss of 180 billion yen (approximately $1.2 billion) for Toyota, while the agreement announced on July 23 will lower the tariff rate to 15%. Following the announcement of the trade agreement between the US and Japan, Toyota's stock price surged 16.4%, marking the largest intraday increase since 1987. However, year-to-date, Toyota's stock has still seen a cumulative decline of 9.6%. Goldman Sachs Japan analyst Kota Yuzawa noted in a report that as tariffs decrease to 15%, the overall impact on the Japanese automotive industry is expected to be around 1.9 trillion yen. In contrast, the investment bank previously estimated that at the higher 25% tariff level, the industry would be affected by approximately 3.5 trillion yen. Japan's chief trade negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, has repeatedly stated that US auto tariffs are unacceptable. He believes that the Japanese automotive industry has made significant contributions to the US economy through over $60 billion in investments and the creation of 2.3 million jobs. The automotive industry is a pillar of the Japanese economy, accounting for about one-third of Japan's exports to the US and is often seen as a barometer of wage trends in Japan, with its output representing about 10% of Japan's GDP.