New U.S. Tariff Unlikely to Significantly Impact Japan, BOJ Gov. Says

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:02 JST, February 26, 2026

Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda has indicated that the new additional tariff on foreign goods announced by U.S. President Donald Trump will not have a significant impact on Japan.

Ueda made the statement in an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun at the BOJ head office on Tuesday.

Regarding the bank’s additional interest rate hikes, he touched on the monetary policy meetings scheduled to take place in March and April and said, “We would like to make decisions after carefully examining information we will be able to obtain up until then.”

The new U.S. tariff took effect on Tuesday. Based on Section 122 of the Trade Act, Trump is imposing an additional 10% tariff on all imports from countries and regions, including Japan. He also indicated he may raise the rate to 15%.

As for the reason Ueda thinks the new U.S. tariff will not have a significant impact on Japan, he pointed to the fact that Japan had been subject to the 15% reciprocal tariffs.

However, the U.S. administration is apparently considering new tariff measures. Speaking about the increasing uncertainty, the governor said, “Because various moves may be undertaken in the future, we’ll be keeping an eye on the situation.”

Ueda also discussed additional interest rate hikes. “Our basic stance is to adjust the degree of monetary easing if there is an increasing possibility of our economic and price outlooks materializing,” he said. For future policy decisions, the governor indicated that the bank will examine the impacts of interest rate hikes implemented in December and earlier on financial institutions, businesses and households.

Ueda pointed out that the Tankan quarterly economic survey on corporate business confidence, to be released by the bank on April 1, would be “important information.” But he also said, “It doesn’t necessarily mean that we must wait for the Tankan to obtain information,” adding that the bank will proceed with monitoring the situation through hearings and other means.

Regarding the BOJ’s “price stability target of 2%,” Ueda said he expects to see the 2% target largely achieved from the second half of fiscal 2026 to fiscal 2027.

“If [moves for wage hikes in] the spring labor-management negotiations are stronger than expected and [businesses] expedite moves to pass on [cost increases] to prices, the goal could be achieved earlier,” he said.