President Donald Trump has said that Japan will import the Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) F-150 pickup truck in the country, as confusion looms over a 15% tariff deal with Japan.
Trump Says Japan Will Take The Ford F-150
"They're taking our cars. They're taking the very beautiful Ford F-150, which does very well. And I'm sure we'll do very well there and other things that do very well here, will also do well there," Trump said in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday.
‘EU Will Pay Us $650 Billion:’ Trump
The President also said that a deal worth $650 billion was in place with the EU. "In addition, the EU is going to pay us $650 billion – we're going to round it off, actually, because of certain things, to $600 billion," Trump said in the interview.
He also outlined a conversation with a senior EU leader complaining about the bloc not importing any U.S.-made vehicles. "That's not right. That's not a nice thing, Angela," Trump said before adding that the bloc now takes "all our cars, all our trucks, everything is open 100%."
Ryosei Akazawa's Visit To Washington
The news comes as Japan's top trade negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, announced he was visiting the U.S. to push the Trump administration to ensure swift implementation of the 15% tariff deal with Japan.
"We’ll continue to strongly urge the US to take steps to implement the agreement swiftly and steadily, including the reduction of tariffs on cars and car parts," Akazawa said to the reporters before he left.
Ishiba Government Criticized For Not Signing Official Document
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has been on the receiving end of criticism from opposition lawmakers in Japan for failing to sign an official document outlining the tariff agreement.
Ishiba defended the decision by saying that time constraints warranted the government to take swift action. Japan currently faces 27.5% tariffs on auto imports into the U.S.
Tariffs Hitting American Automakers Hard
Tariffs have cost the auto industry and companies billions of dollars through various duties and levies. Ford recently revised its tariff impact to $3 billion from the $2 billion in additional spending it said before, while Rivian Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ:RIVN) said that the company expects a “couple thousand dollars per unit” in additional costs due to Trump’s tariffs.
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