This week, President Donald Trump told reporters that there likely won’t be a trade deal with Japan as the tariff deadline approaches.
In his remarks, Trump called Japan “spoiled.”
“We dealt with Japan. I’m not sure if we’re going to make a deal. I doubt it with Japan — they’re very tough. You have to understand, they’re spoiled. I love Japan. I really like the new prime minister, too. Abe was one of my closest friends, as you know,” he said on Tuesday, referring to Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated in 2022.
Trump on trade deals: "I'll be writing letters to a lot of countries. We've dealt with Japan. I'm not sure we're gonna make a deal. I doubt it with Japan. They're very tough. You have to understand they are very spoiled ... they won't take rice." pic.twitter.com/NkH9N81Dlb
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 1, 2025
“But, they and others are so spoiled from having ripped us off for 30, 40 years that its really hard for them to make a deal. You know, it’s very hard. As an example with Japan, they won’t take rice and yet they desperately need rice,” he added, according to The Hill. “They won’t take any cars but they’ll sell millions. So, we told them, ‘Sorry you can’t do that.’”
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Reportedly, Trump said that he will send one final letter to countries that have not struck trade deals with the US since Trump imposed tariffs.
“So, what I’m going to do is I’ll write them a letter, say, ‘We thank you very much. We know you can’t do the kind of things that we need and therefore you’ll pay a 30 percent, 35 percent or whatever the numbers that we determine,’” he said. “Because we also have a very big trade deficit with Japan, as you know and its very unfair to the American people.”
On Monday, Trump said on Truth Social that he has “great respect” for Japan, but “they won’t take our RICE.”
“In other words, we’ll just be sending them a letter, and we love having them as a Trading Partner for many years to come,” he added.
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