The rate will apply in addition to individual “reciprocal” tariffs targeting countries with which the US runs a trade deficit.

Over the past few decades, Japan-based automaker Toyota has spent billions of dollars to expand its manufacturing and assembly plants in the United States. Those plants now employ over 64,000 people across North America and have churned out millions of vehicles.

It is the most significant of a clutch of agreements Trump has bagged since unveiling sweeping global levies in April, though like other deals, exact details remained unclear.

T he U.S. and Japan have reached a trade agreement under which the longtime U.S. will face a 15% tariff—down from a previously threatened 25%—President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday, as Japan’s Prime Minister hailed the move as a “new golden era” in the relationship between the two countries.

Japanese automakers are facing mounting pressure from multiple fronts—U.S. tariffs, intensifying competition from Chinese rivals, and a sluggish domestic market—raising expectations that the industry will consolidate around giants like Toyota and Honda.

President Trump's trade strategy, marked by elevated tariffs, is yielding agreements with nations like the EU, Japan, and Vietnam. The EU accepted 15% US tariffs and committed to significant purchases and investments.

"The trade deal struck with the U.S. is certainly a relief in that it offers some certainty that U.S. tariffs on Japan-made cars won't rise to punitive levels," said Stefan Angrick, head of Japan and Frontier market economics at Moody's Analytics.

That statement came some 12 hours after Trump announced an agreement Sunday with the European Union that would see a 15% tax paid on products brought into the United States from the bloc. The E.U. also agreed to spend $750 billion on energy purchases from the U.S., while investing an additional $600 billion here.

Steep tariffs on U.S. imports of steel and aluminum remain, however, and many other countries, including South Korea and Thailand, have yet to clinch agreements. Overall, economists say the tariffs inevitably will dent growth in Asia and the world.

President Donald Trump’s trade deal with the European Union could prompt other partners to move more quickly in pursuit of assurances they’ll avoid new tariffs next week.