Akazawa Says U.S. Promised to Fix Tariff Order to Avoid Double Duties

Reuters

10:03 JST, August 8, 2025

TOKYO (Reuters) — The U.S. government on Thursday promised to amend a presidential executive order to remove overlapping tariffs on Japanese goods, Tokyo’s trade negotiator said, after talks in Washington to fix what he called a “regrettable” error.

In those discussions in Washington, Ryosei Akazawa urged Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to ensure that an earlier agreed 15% levy on Japanese imports was not also stacked on goods that were already subject to higher tariffs.

They explained they would amend the presidential order and in doing so also refund any portion of the duties collected since Aug 7, when President Donald Trump issued his tariff order, Akazawa said.

Lutnick and Bessent said Trump would at the same time lower auto tariffs to 15% from 27.5%, in line with the agreement on trade reached by the two countries last month.

The U.S. Treasury and Commerce Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the meetings with Akazawa.

Much of the agreement Akazawa reached during his previous visit to Washington in July, when he met Trump, was never put into a signed document, creating confusion in Tokyo and concern that some Japanese companies could face far higher tariffs than anticipated.

Japan “will continue to maintain close communication with the U.S. side at various levels,” the government said in a statement, before Akazawa spoke.