Highlights of the U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement

On October 7^th, the U.S. and Japan signed a limited, bilateral trade deal called the United States-Japan Trade Agreement. The deal seeks to eliminate or reduce tariffs on certain agricultural and industrial products traded between the two countries. While the effective date is January 1^st, many of the tariff lines are being reduced or eliminated gradually. This agreement, along with the U.S.-Japan Digital Trade Agreement, is published on the website of the United States Trade Representative.

Highlights of the trade agreement include:

• Duties on almost 250 tariff lines of Japanese products, such as machine tools, pianos, and TVs, will be eliminated or reduced in stages.
  • The affected tariff reductions and tariff lines are available in the 26-pages of the U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement: Annex 2 Tariffs and Tariff-Related Provisions of the U.S.
  • Some tariffs will be eliminated in stages over two, five, or ten years.
  • Other tariffs will be reduced by 50% of the current rate immediately or over two, five, or ten years.
• Japan will lower duties on hundreds of tariff lines of U.S. cheese, wine, beef, pork, wheat, almonds, and various other food, beverages, and agricultural products, along with six tariffs describing industrial alcohols, glues, and dyes. These are described in the 116-page U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement Annex 1: Tariffs and Tariff-Related Provisions of Japan.
• Tariffs on autos, rice, bourbon, and aircrafts are unresolved.

Some news sources have reported that a larger deal is being considered for 2020 to address some of the remaining commodities not covered by this agreement. If you have questions about specific commodities or your specific shipments, please contact Deringer’s Compliance Department.