April 9, 2025
Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Yamazoe Taku, at a meeting of the House of Councilors Committee on Foreign Affairs on April 8, said that measures taken by U.S. President Donald Trump to unilaterally raise tariffs on countries are inconsistent with the WTO agreement.
Under the “most-favored-nation (MFN)” clause, one of the key principles of the WTO, a country should extend the same treatment to all WTO members and should not impose discriminatory import tariffs. In addition, unilateral measures are prohibited.
Yamazoe stated that the “Trump tariffs” clearly violate the WTO agreement.
He pointed out that President Trump determines tariff rates by dividing the U.S. trade deficit with Japan by the amount of imports, but the huge profits made in Japan by multinational companies such as Google and Amazon are not necessarily being reflected in the trade balance between the two countries. He said that the vast majority of their profits are flowing to the United States.
He also pointed out that the United States has allowed multinational corporations to impose a neoliberal order on other countries in order to benefit from cheap labor and has leant toward highly profitable IT companies, resulting in widening inequality and increasing poverty in the country.
The JCP lawmaker stated that the United States itself is responsible for the trade deficit President Trump is claiming, adding, “It is outrageous for the U.S. government to try to evade responsibility by waging a trade war on other countries.”
Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi responded, “No country wins in tariff wars. In the international community where so many economies are linked together, it is impossible for only one country to prosper.”
Yamazoe said that free trade rules, which threaten economic sovereignty and impose great sacrifices, has reached an impasse, and demanded that Japan take the lead in establishing fair trade rules in line with the economic priorities and food sovereignty of each country.
Past related articles:
> JCP EC Chair Tamura: Japan should demand retraction of ‘Trump tariffs’ [April 5, 2025]
> JCP EC Chair Tamura: Trump’s 25% auto tariff policy represents failure in US-led free trade system [April 3, 2025]
Under the “most-favored-nation (MFN)” clause, one of the key principles of the WTO, a country should extend the same treatment to all WTO members and should not impose discriminatory import tariffs. In addition, unilateral measures are prohibited.
Yamazoe stated that the “Trump tariffs” clearly violate the WTO agreement.
He pointed out that President Trump determines tariff rates by dividing the U.S. trade deficit with Japan by the amount of imports, but the huge profits made in Japan by multinational companies such as Google and Amazon are not necessarily being reflected in the trade balance between the two countries. He said that the vast majority of their profits are flowing to the United States.
He also pointed out that the United States has allowed multinational corporations to impose a neoliberal order on other countries in order to benefit from cheap labor and has leant toward highly profitable IT companies, resulting in widening inequality and increasing poverty in the country.
The JCP lawmaker stated that the United States itself is responsible for the trade deficit President Trump is claiming, adding, “It is outrageous for the U.S. government to try to evade responsibility by waging a trade war on other countries.”
Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi responded, “No country wins in tariff wars. In the international community where so many economies are linked together, it is impossible for only one country to prosper.”
Yamazoe said that free trade rules, which threaten economic sovereignty and impose great sacrifices, has reached an impasse, and demanded that Japan take the lead in establishing fair trade rules in line with the economic priorities and food sovereignty of each country.
Past related articles:
> JCP EC Chair Tamura: Japan should demand retraction of ‘Trump tariffs’ [April 5, 2025]
> JCP EC Chair Tamura: Trump’s 25% auto tariff policy represents failure in US-led free trade system [April 3, 2025]
