President Donald Trump is threatening to impose higher tariffs on Japanese exports to the United States over what he claims is the country’s unwillingness to buy American-grown rice. “They won’t take our RICE,

Japanese carmakers have largely absorbed the cost of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on auto imports, a move that may undermine the Asian nation’s negotiating power ahead of a July 9 deadline that will see duties rocket even higher.

As Tokyo seeks to avert the US' threat to impose tariffs of up to 35 per cent on Japanese goods, Prime Minister Ishiba stressed that Japan, as the biggest investor nation in the US economy, should be treated differently from other countries.