Japan to discuss car safety standards in Trump tariff talks, Nikkei Asia reports

TOKYO - Japan is considering relaxing automobile safety rules for imports as part of its tariff negotiations with the United States, Nikkei Asia reported on April 20.

Japan has been

hit with 24 per cent levies

on its exports to the US although these rates have, like most of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, been

paused for 90 days.

A 10 per cent universal rate remains in place, as does a 25 per cent duty on cars, a mainstay of Japan’s export-reliant economy.

As Japan and the US use different safety standards, Tokyo sees room for easing rules on crash tests as a bargaining chip in trade talks, Nikkei said, citing unnamed sources.

With Mr Trump’s trade offensive roiling markets and stoking recession fears, Japan is seeking to walk back his “reciprocal” tariffs and other duties imposed on Japan, along with dozens of countries.

Mr Trump touted “big progress” in tariff talks with Japan on April 16, in one of the first rounds of face-to-face negotiations since his barrage of duties on global imports. REUTERS