Japan is looking at all possible countermeasures following the latest decision by the United States to impose a 25% tariff on auto imports, said Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Thursday.
‘We have to think what is good for Japan’s national interest,’ We are not ruling out anything to determine what is the best response: said Ishiba in Parliament.
U.S. tariff, which was announced by President Donald Trump on March 26 and is due to come into effect this week, will substantially sharpen trade tensions between Washington and its partners worldwide. The plan is expected to raise $100bn in tax revenue, but it has major concerns among key US allies, including Japan, one of them among the biggest investors in the American economy. 
Japan’s automobile industry might also feel the pain of the loss as vehicles made up 28.3% of its entire exports to the US in 2024, ministry data shows.
“Japan is a significant investor and employer in the United States. It is dubious, Ishiba said, whether smoke-screen tariffs on all countries is to trump’s advantage.
Economic analysts caution that the tariff could test the Japan-U.S. trade partnership and dampen Japan’s economic performance. Although Tokyo has not yet unveiled concrete measures, there is a growing talk of Tokyo’s potential retaliatory tariffs or WTO negotiations.
But, Japan stays on high alert for now, weighing up what it does next amid intensifying trade disputes.
