Japanese Prime Minister Shigro Eshiba said on Friday that Donald Trump’s views on the customs tariff “are difficult to understand” after the US President announced 25 % on imported cars and parts.
Just weeks after Ishiba and Trump apparently had friendly talks, duties were a major blow to Japan, one of the closest allies of the economy and strategy in Washington. Japanese car shares sank for the second day on Friday.
“What President Trump says is that there are friends, enemies and friends who can be more difficult. This is very difficult.”
Trump announced this week at the White House that the new customs tariff for vehicles – which were directed to next week – at the White House, announced that the trade partners in America “take over our jobs, take our wealth, and take a lot of things.”
“They took out many of our country and our friend and their enemy alike. Frankly, the friend was often worse than the enemy,” he added.
The measures caused panic among our allies.
Canada’s reaction was angrily on the Trump tariff, which could destroy the car industry in the country, as Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that the era of deep bilateral relations had ended.
For Japan, Ishiba warned: “The effect that this will have on the Japanese economy will be very important. There is nothing that can be acquired by going into a big battle on it. We will explain logically (to Washington).
“The important point is to make them understand the imposition of such high definitions on Japan will not bring a special benefit to the United States.”
One in 10 Japanese jobs linked to the auto industry.
Ishiba said on Thursday that Japan was declining an “appropriate” response to the definitions.
“We believe that current measures and other commercial restrictions on a large scale by the US government can have a significant impact on the economic relationship between Japan and the United States, as well as the global economy and the multilateral trade system,” said government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi.
Trump moved from investors, who were already on the edge of the abyss on a series of other definitions that he imposed, including steel and aluminum.
In the afternoon trade, Toyota decreased by 4.76 % in Tokyo, Honda fell by 4.77 % and Nissan lost 2.97 %, and sharp losses extend on Thursday.
A government source told AFP on Friday that senior trading officials from South Korea, Japan and China at the same time were appointed on Sunday to meet Seoul to discuss economic cooperation.
This story was originally shown on Fortune.com
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