April 5, 2025

Japanese Communist Party Executive Committee Chair Tamura Tomoko, at a meeting of ruling and opposition party leaders held on April 4 in the Diet building, said that Japan should protest against U.S. President Trump’s unilateral tariff policy and demand the withdrawal of that policy.

Tamura also said that the government should “immediately take every possible measure to protect people’s livelihoods, employment, and businesses in Japan,” citing the 2008 Lehman crisis which had led to a large number of non-regular workers losing their jobs.

Furthermore, as a long-term goal, she proposed that Japan work to ensure fair rules that respect the right to economic and food sovereignty of each country.

The U.S. government will impose a 10% baseline tariff on all imports, and then implement additional tariff rates by country/region, taking into account tariffs and “non-tariff barriers” in each country. Japan will face 24%. The 25% tariff on car imports already took effect on April 3.

Tamura stated, “Trump’s unilateral imposition of tariffs is outrageous in violation of international rules and each country’s economic sovereignty.”

At a press conference after the meeting, she stressed the need for the Japanese government to move away from diplomacy that kowtows to the United States.