Trump Trade Talks: Japan Gets a Deal
Peter Zeihan
6 min
The headline figure for tariffs going for goods coming from Japan to the United States is now 15%. We are, once again, at the beginning of this process, we are nowhere near the end.
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Donald Trump
Chapters
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0:00
Japan's Trade Deal Overview
The Trump administration has announced a 15% tariff on Japanese goods, with negotiations on cars and semiconductors postponed. Both nations dominate different parts of the semiconductor supply chain, making a complete national system difficult.
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2:52
Drug Manufacturing Challenges
Japan produces advanced drugs requiring complex support chains, complicating domestic manufacturing efforts. Japan's state-linked institutions are expected to invest in US infrastructure but retain 90% of profits. The process is just beginning after three and a half months, with full realization taking over a decade.
Key points
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The headline figure for tariffs going for goods coming from Japan to the United States is now 15%.
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Cars and semiconductors are pushed off to another day in these negotiations.
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The United States makes the silicon dioxide that basically goes into all of the world's semiconductors.
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Japan absolutely dominates the photo mask, which is a really fancy sunscreen for chips.
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Neither country replicates steps needed for a purely national semiconductor supply chain system.
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The United States makes the silicon dioxide that basically goes into all of the world's semiconductors.
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If you want to do drug manufacturing at home, you need a whole support chain going up to it.
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Japan is a sovereign nation where you negotiate with Tokyo directly.
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Japanese state entities usually go into raw commodity production and processing.
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According to the terms of the current deal, those institutions will now start investing in American infrastructure.
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90% of the profits from those institutions will go to American entities.
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We're now three and a half months later, and we're only now getting the initial declaration of what Donald Trump actually wants to see.
Who and where
People · 1
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Donald Trump 5
President of the United States (2017–2021; since 2025)
Photo 1
1. Photo: Daniel Torok, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons · Wikidata · redrawn in our house style (Donald Trump)
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