Japan says US agreed to end tariff stacking and cut car levy

The U.S. confirmed it would end stacking of universal tariffs on Japan and cut car levies as promised, Tokyo’s top trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said after a meeting with his counterparts in Washington.

His comments following talks with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent provided some relief amid doubts over the details of the trade deal reached between the two countries last month.

The U.S. officials expressed regret that the stacking rule had been applied to Japan despite a verbal agreement, and said Washington would refund any overpaid levies, he said. No time frame was agreed for the implementation, Akazawa said after the meetings.

Japan was hit with higher-than-expected universal tariffs as part of the wave of new levies introduced by the Trump