Japan warns of major economic impact after Trump’s car tariffs announcement
Japan's government issued a warning on Thursday about the "significant impact" that President Donald Trump's newly announced import tariffs on cars could have on its economic relationship with the United States and on global trade.
Tokyo is one of Washington's closest economic and strategic allies, with its firms the biggest investors in the United States and one in 10 Japanese jobs tied to the auto sector, News.Az reports, citing AFP.
Trump announced on Wednesday 25 percent tariffs "on all cars that are not made in the United States" effective 12:01 am (0401 GMT) eastern time on April 3.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who last month held friendly talks with Trump at the White House, said Japan was reviewing an "appropriate" response.
"Japan has made significant investments and significant job creation, which doesn't apply to all countries... We are the number one (country) in investment in the United States," Ishiba added.
"We believe that the current measures and other broad-based trade restrictions by the US government could have a significant impact on the economic relationship between Japan and the US, as well as on the global economy and the multilateral trading system," government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said.
"In response to this announcement, we have again told the US government that this measure was extremely regrettable and we strongly urged the US government to exclude Japan from the scope of this measure," Hayashi said.
South Korea's trade and industry minister Ahn Duk-geun held an emergency meeting with major automakers and others after Trump's announcement, the government said.
"The government will work closely with the industry to devise countermeasures and, in coordination with other ministries, announce a comprehensive emergency response plan for the auto sector in April," Ahn said.
Trump's announcement hammered carmakers in Asia, although they later recovered some ground.
The world's top-selling automaker Toyota closed down 2.0 percent, while Nissan shed 1.7 percent and Honda was off 2.5 percent.
In South Korea, Hyundai shares dipped 4.0 percent.
Contacted by AFP, Toyota was not immediately available for comment on Thursday.
Honda said it would "study the impact of the tariffs on our businesses, then we will take measures to minimise the impact".
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