On Tuesday, U.S. Eastern Time, President Donald Trump announced that the United States and Japan had reached a trade agreement. In a social-media post, Trump claimed the deal will cut the U.S. tariff rate on Japanese goods from the previously announced 25 % to 15 %.

       The news sent Japanese auto stocks soaring, but across the Pacific the trade group representing Detroit’s Big Three—General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis—publicly voiced concern and dissatisfaction with the accord

  U.S. Automakers Decry U.S.–Japan Deal  

       The trade group voicing the complaint is the American Automotive Policy Council (AAPC), a Washington-based lobby that represents the major U.S. automakers and related industries.

       AAPC president Matt Blunt said the organization is still studying the agreement in detail, but warned that “any deal that imposes a lower tariff on Japanese vehicles containing virtually no U.S. content than on North-American-made vehicles with high U.S. content is a bad deal for American industry and American autoworkers.”

       The criticism came the same day General Motors disclosed that tariffs sliced $1.1 billion off its second-quarter earnings and warned the hit would deepen in the third quarter.

       Stellantis, meanwhile, said on Monday that it expects U.S. import duties on vehicles and parts to inflict greater pain in the second half of 2025. The company reported that President Trump’s tariffs have already cost it roughly €300 million, as it has reduced vehicle shipments and cut production to align output with demand.

  Another blow to U.S. automakers?  

       In fact, after President Trump unveiled a trade deal with the United Kingdom in May, the AAPC publicly warned that it would “harm the U.S. auto industry.” Under that agreement, British automakers received an annual quota of 100,000 vehicles that can enter the United States at a 10 % tariff—roughly the same volume Britain exported to the U.S. last year.

       In April, the White House softened the impact on domestic manufacturers by cutting tariffs on certain parts and materials, but it left the 25 % duty on imported vehicles intact. At the same time, Trump extended duty-free treatment for North-American parts that comply with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s rules of origin.

Source: Cailian Press