US and Japan strike trade deal

What happened

President Donald Trump signed a trade deal with Japan Tuesday, "pleasantly surprising investors," Reuters said. It lowers tariffs on imported Japanese goods — including cars and auto parts — from 25% to 15%. Japan will also invest $550 billion in the U.S. S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were up slightly on the news; Japan's Nikkei jumped 3.7%.

Who said what

Japan is the "first in the world to be able to reduce tariffs on automobiles and auto parts without volume restrictions," Japan's tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said. Trump hailed the deal as "maybe the largest deal ever made."

The new levies are still "higher than the 10% rate that had been in force while the countries negotiated," suggesting "Trump is willing to keep elevated tariffs" on major trading partners, the Financial Times said. But this does put Japan "at an advantage" over competing vehicle importers, CNN said.

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What next?

Other nations will be hoping for similar agreements ahead of Trump's August 1 tariff deal deadline. Representatives from the European Union are in Washington for trade talks today, and negotiations with South Korean officials are set for Friday.