US President Donald Trump criticised Japan on Monday, alleging the country's reluctance to purchase American-grown rice and hinting at a potential end to trade negotiations.
In a post on Truth Social Donald Trump wrote, "To show people how spoiled countries have become with respect to the United States of America... they won't take our RICE, and yet they have a massive rice shortage." "We'll just be sending them a letter, and we love having them as a trading partner for many years to come."
According to Reuters, Japan has in fact imported historically high volumes of US rice in recent months as domestically grown rice has skyrocketed in price since last year, hurting consumers.
But Tokyo caps tariff-free imports of staple rice - which is consumed at meals as opposed to rice used for feed or ingredients in other products - at 100,000 metric tons a year and imposes a levy of 341 yen ($2.37) per kg for anything beyond that. That amount is a fraction of Japan's total annual consumption of about 7 million tons.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said Tuesday a trade deal with Japan was unlikely before the July 9 deadline, threatening to raise tariffs on Japanese imports to 30 or 35 per cent.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump criticised Japan's reluctance to accept imports of US rice, as well as the imbalance in auto trade between the two countries.
"I'm not sure we're going to make a deal," Trump said. "I doubt it with Japan; they're very tough."
While Trump imposed a sweeping 10 per cent tariff on imports from most trading partners in April, he unveiled - then paused - higher rates on dozens of economies to allow room for negotiations.
This pause expires July 9, meaning the elevated rates are due to kick in next week if countries fail to reach agreements with Washington to avert them.
(With inputs from agencies)
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