Japan expressed “regret” over not being exempted from US President Donald Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs, which took effect today.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Wednesday that “the failure to exempt Japan from the additional tariffs is regrettable.”
He warned that the move “threatens to have a significant impact on the economic relationship between Japan and the United States,” according to Agence France-Presse.
US President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports took effect at 04:01 GMT on Wednesday, taking the United States a step closer to a trade war with its major partners.
On February 10, Trump signed two executive orders imposing 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from all countries, effective March 12, “without exceptions or exemptions.”
