Lucy Devine
President Donald Trump has announced new tariffs for Japan, with the two countries agreeing a 'massive' trade deal.
While initially, Trump had threatened a 25 percent tariff on goods sold to America, it's now been agreed that the country will invest $550 billion, and tariffs have been reduced to 15 percent.
Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said it was 'the lowest figure to date among countries with trade surpluses with the US'.
Meanwhile, Trump added: "I just signed the largest trade deal in history, I think maybe the largest deal in history with Japan.
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"They had their top people here, and we worked on it long and hard. And it's a great deal for everybody. I always say it has to be great for everybody. It's a great deal."
Around 25 percent of Japan's exports to the US are from the automotive sector, and while key details are not yet clear, the BBC report that Ishiba has said US tariffs on vehicles would also be cut to 15 percent.
Following the news, people on Reddit have all been saying the same thing, with many claiming that the details of the deal sound like 'a made up number'.
One person wrote: "It's probably just a completely made up number."
While another added: "Is this 550 billion $ investment in one year or how many years?"
And a third said: "I've been working in international procurement and logistics for over 15 years and I do not know what he means when he says this."
And a fourth wrote: "It's just made up."
UNILAD has reached out to the White House for comment.
The news comes as Trump's August 1 tariff deadline looms.
The president has also announced a tariff of 19 percent for the Philippines, while US goods will pay zero tariffs.
Trump said: “We concluded our Trade Deal, whereby The Philippines is going OPEN MARKET with the United States."
It's reported that Trump has now turned his attention to Europe, explaining: “We have Europe coming in tomorrow, and the next day, we have some other ones coming in."
In a new post on Truth Social earlier this month, Trump made it clear that he still had a bone to pick with the European Union and Mexico, two of the nation's most regular trading partners.
In his letter to the EU, Trump wrote: “We have had years to discuss our Trading Relationship with The European Union, and we have concluded we must move away from these long-term, large, and persistent, Trade Deficits, engendered by your Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies, and Trade Barriers.
“Our relationship has been, unfortunately, far from Reciprocal.”
Meanwhile, a European Commission spokesperson said this week that EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic will speak with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in the next few days.
“The EU’s primary focus is on achieving a negotiated outcome with the US. Intensive technical and political level contact is ongoing,” a spokesperson said.