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EO 14345 operationalizes the July 2025 US-Japan trade framework by amending the tariff treatment set under the April 2025 reciprocal-tariff regime (EO 14257) specifically for Japan. Rather than leaving Japan at its country-specific 24% reciprocal rate, the order sets a flat 15% floor: any product with a Column 1 (MFN) duty rate under 15% has its total rate raised to 15%; products already above 15% keep their existing (higher) rate, i.e. the tariff is not stacked additively. This floor applies broadly, including to agricultural tariff lines (cereals, vegetables, fruits and nuts) that GTA separately logs as distinct interventions within the same EO, since MFN rates on many of these lines previously sat below 15%.
Severity is set at 3 (quant basis: 15% baseline rate) rather than higher because this is a reduction relative to the 24% rate Japan faced under the April 2025 schedule for most goods, and includes carve-outs (aerospace zeroed out, autos brought down from a separate 25% Section 232 rate to the same 15%). The action still counts as a new trade-restrictive tariff action relative to pre-2025 MFN rates for any Japanese product previously under 15%.
EOs (South Korea, EU) that replace country-specific reciprocal rates with negotiated sector carve-outs plus a uniform floor.
US even as Japan simultaneously commits to $8bn/year in added US farm purchases — a two-way agricultural trade rebalancing.
the US government) is a novel non-tariff consideration mechanism worth tracking as a template for future bilateral deals.
pharma call-outs) has not been independently verified against the Federal Register annex tables.
guidance for implementation corrections.