 "'We'll send them a letter': Trump threatens Japan with more tariffs, says it 'won't take' American rice")
US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose higher tariffs on Japan as he claimed that the country does not want to buy rice grown in America.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said, “They won’t take our RICE, and yet they have a massive rice shortage. In other words, we’ll just be sending them a letter, and we love having them as a Trading Partner for many years to come.”
A few days ago, Trump said that some of Washington’s trading partners will start receiving letters from his administration that will contain the details of what their new tariff rates could be.
Among these foreign countries is Japan, with Trump saying, “Dear Mr. Japan, here’s the story: You’re going to pay a 25 per cent tariff on your cars.”
The president’s recent announcement on Truth Social comes just days ahead of the expiration of a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs on July 9.
Does US export rice to Japan?
Trump’s claim that Japan refuses to buy rice from the US is not true, as data from the Census Bureau shows that the country bought $298 million worth of rice from Washington last year. Meanwhile, between January and April this year, Japan bought $114 million worth of rice.
Tariffs on Japan
In April, Trump briefly suspended for 90 days so-called reciprocal tariffs on a slew of countries, including Japan, which faced a further 24 per cent, but imposed them on China.
However, after the pause went into effect, Japan was subjected to the universal 10 per cent rate.
Japanese companies are the biggest investors in the United States, and Japan is a vital strategic ally for Washington in the Asia-Pacific region.
With inputs from agencies
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