Japan’s Motegi sees progress on end to US car tariffs - FT

In an interview with the Financial Times (FT), Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said that “the new US-Japan trade deal is a triumph for the Japanese industry and offers a route to the elimination of US car tariffs”.

Further Comments:

It was still possible to achieve the longstanding goal of cutting US tariffs on cars.

For automobiles and parts, it’s clearly written into the agreement that we won’t just continue negotiations, but conduct a further negotiation to eliminate tariffs.

On agriculture, this is within the level of our past trade agreements, and with the TPP11 already in force, it means the US is no longer in a subordinate position to other countries.

Meanwhile, USD/JPY defends minor bids around 108.20, finding support from the risk-on trades in Asia amid holiday-thinned volumes.