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Kathmandu. Japan’s top carmakers may be forced to cut production if US President Donald Trump moves forward with plans to impose tariffs on vehicle imports, the country’s top automakers have said.
The car industry is a huge pillar of the Japanese economy. The car manufacturing industry accounts for about 10 percent of employment in Japan. Japan’s Toyota is the world’s top-selling carmaker.
Masanori Katayama, president of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA), warned of the impact of US trade protectionism at a press conference in Tokyo, saying, “We are concerned that the proposed US tariff hikes on exporters from Japan, Mexico and Canada, which the Trump administration is considering, could have a negative impact on the overall US and Japanese economies.”
“If this happens, there could be a significant adjustment in production,” said Katayama, who is also the chief executive of truck maker Isuzu Motors. Vehicles will account for about a third of Japan’s 21.3 trillion yen ($142 billion) in U.S. exports in 2024. Ministers have been lobbying their U.S. counterparts to secure tax breaks on Japanese goods such as steel and vehicles, but so far these requests have been rejected.
Japan exported 1.37 million vehicles to the U.S. in 1986, compared with 3.43 million vehicles sold in 1986, Katayama told a news conference attended by executives from Toyota, Honda and other major industrial companies. “These exports are essential to providing American motorists with the automakers’ complete product lines,” he said. Katayama also said that international economic “uncertainty” was making investment decisions more difficult.
He also said that Japanese brands created jobs in the US and acted as corporate members of the US. JAMA has grouped 14 of Japan’s top car and motorcycle manufacturers.
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