Japan to Receive Special U.S. Tariff Measures; Executive Order Set to Be Amended

By Takeru Kise and Keiichi Nakane / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers

16:54 JST, August 8, 2025

WASHINGTON — Economic revitalization minister Ryosei Akazawa said Thursday that the United States government has agreed to amend a presidential executive order as Japan was not among countries given special treatment over “reciprocal tariffs” imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Akazawa, during his visit to Washington, said that officials would amend the executive order in a timely manner. This specific timing for the revision has not yet been decided.

The tariff rate specified in the order will apply until it has been amended, but the U.S. would reimburse excess tariffs collected since the new rate took effect on Thursday. In addition, Akazawa said that Trump is expected to issue an executive order to reduce auto tariffs on Japan to 15%.

Akazawa held separate meetings with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday. After the meetings, Akazawa told reporters, “It is extremely regrettable that an executive order was issued during the U.S. administrative processing in a way that is not in line with the agreement between Japan and the United States, and the order took effect.”

“U.S. cabinet ministers also expressed their regret over such procedures,” he added.

Regarding the 15% reciprocal tariffs on Japan, the U.S. government is now set to apply a special measure in line with the trade agreement reached between Tokyo and Washington on July 22, The reciprocal tariffs will not be stacked on items that are already subject to tariffs of 15% or higher, while levies for goods with existing tariffs under 15% will be raised to 15% across the board. The executive order and a U.S. Federal Register notice indicated that Japan is not subject to in this special measure, so would have faced additional 15% tariffs on top of the existing ones.

“We were told that the portion of the tariffs excessively collected since Aug. 7 will be reimbursed in line with the Japan-U.S. agreement,” said Akazawa. “It is not possible for the executive order to remain unrevised for six months or a year. The U.S. side will respond to this matter commonsensically.”

Regarding U.S. auto tariffs, Akazawa said, “We have confirmed that the United States will issue an executive order to lower tariffs on automobiles and automobile parts at the same time as it amends the executive order on reciprocal tariffs.”

Reciprocal tariffs imposed by the Trump administration took effect Thursday with new levy rates applied to about 70 countries and regions.

The Japanese government has explained that Washington had agreed to apply the special measure for Japan to reduce the tariff burden similar to the agreement with the European Union. However, this was not reflected in the executive order or the Federal Register notice, resulting in the imposition of higher tariffs than what was agreed on.

In light of the situation, Akazawa urgently left for the United States on Tuesday to confirm the details of the agreement and seek its steady implementation through meetings with U.S. cabinet members.