Spurned in midterms, Trump turns sights on Japanese car firms

Move follows concerns president would respond to loses by becoming more erratic towards Asia

Comments raise spectre of 25 per cent tariff on imports of Japanese vehicles

US market is critical to Japanese carmakers – but president says American manufacturers are not getting same access in Japan

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Trump describes Abe as one of the people he is closest with. Photo: AP

Published: 5:45pm, 8 Nov 2018Updated: 5:19pm, 11 Jan 2019

US President Donald Trump wasted no time after the results of the midterm elections to step up the pressure on another long-term trade and security partner, criticising Tokyo for treating the United States unfairly on trade and hinting he will go ahead with a plan to impose tariffs on imported Japanese cars.

The threat appears to give weight to concerns voiced by political scientist Ian Bremmer to the South China Morning Post that Trump would respond to his poor showing in the elections by escalating his oppositional style of politics and behaving more erratically towards Asia.

Speaking at a press conference in Washington on Wednesday just hours after the Republican Party lost control of the House of Representatives to the Democrats, Trump trained his sights on Japanese car firms, complaining that while Japan benefited from low tariffs on imports into the US, Japan would not grant US-built vehicles similar access to its domestic market.

Trump told the press conference that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was “one of the people I’m closest with,” but added a caveat, “I tell him all the time that Japan does not treat the United States fairly on trade.

“They send in millions of cars at a very low tax ... They don’t take our cars.”

Trump wants greater access to Japan’s agriculture sector. Photo: AFP

Japan and the US are expected to open negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement in the early part of next year, with the Trump administration expected to push hard for increased market access for vehicles and the agriculture sector.

The president has previously suggested he is prepared to impose a 25 per cent tariff on imports of Japanese cars, which would cripple manufacturers.