\n<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that cuts tariffs on Japanese car imports from 27.5% to 15%, easing uncertainty for motor industry giants like Toyota, Honda and Nissan.<\/p>\n
It formalises an agreement, which was announced in July, to apply a 15% levy to almost all Japanese exports to the US – including vehicles and pharmaceuticals.<\/p>\n
Tokyo has also agreed to invest $550bn (\u00a3410bn) in US projects, and gradually open its economy to American goods, including cars and rice, the White House said.<\/a><\/p>\n The deal came after months of negotiations<\/a> between the US and Japan in the wake of Trump announcing sweeping tariffs on most countries around the world in April.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “Finally,” Japan’s top trade negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, said<\/a> in Japanese as he reposted a White House announcement about the executive order.<\/p>\n According to the order, the deal will help reduce America’s trade deficit with Japan and provide US businesses “breakthrough openings”.<\/p>\n The White House said Japan has committed to buying $8bn worth of US goods a year – including agricultural products, fertilisers and bioethanol.<\/p>\n It added that Tokyo has also agreed to gradually increase its purchases of US-grown rice by 75% – a concession it had previously resisted to protect its agricultural industry.<\/p>\n Trump hailed the agreement as “massive” when it was announced in July. <\/p>\n “It’s a great deal for everybody. I always say it has to be great for everybody. It’s a great deal,” he said in a news conference.<\/p>\n The Japanese economy is reliant on selling goods abroad, with the US as its biggest export market. <\/p>\n Cars account for around 20% of the country’s total exports.<\/p>\n