Japan says it has asked the US to exclude it from 25% steel and aluminum tariffs

TOKYO (news agencies) — Japan ‘s government said Wednesday it asked the U.S. to exclude it from 25% steel and aluminum tariffs, a change from duty-free quotas that Tokyo was given previously.

Japan made the request through its embassy in Washington after U.S. President Donald Trump removed the exceptions and exemptions from his 2018 tariffs on steel imports to a minimum of 25%, while hiking aluminum tariffs to 25% from 10%.

“Japan will firmly take necessary steps as we fully examine details of the new measures and their possible impact on the Japanese economy,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters, suggesting that his country will lobby for an exemption in the coming weeks before the measures are due to take effect.

The measures announced by Trump are part of his aggressive push to reset global trade in the belief that tax hikes on foreign-made products will strengthen domestic manufacturing.

Japan was given an annual duty-free quota of up to 1.25 million tons of steel under the former President Joe Biden ’s administration. Japan’s exported 1.18 million tons of steel to the U.S. in 2024, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Japanese steel exports to the U.S. totaled 302.7 billion yen ($2 billion) in 2024, accounting for 1.4% of the total exports to America. Aluminum exports were much less, government data show.