this post was submitted on 04 May 2025
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Japan decided Saturday to continue to press the United States to review its extra tariffs on Japanese automobiles during bilateral talks aimed at scrapping the Trump administration’s tariff measures.

Washington has excluded automobiles and other key items from the scope of the talks. In response, Tokyo has insisted that it will make no concessions as it presses for a complete overhaul of each of the duties imposed Saturday, including those on auto parts.

“There is still a wide gulf between [Japan’s and the United States’] positions, and no common ground has emerged,” Ishiba told reporters after the meeting.

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[–] [email protected] 125 points 2 days ago (2 children)

This is Japan starting to play hardball, and I gotta say, it’s a fantastic play by them. They are currently holding a $1T fiscal knife to our throat (their US bond portfolio, and the threat to resume/continue a coordinated sell with other countries), and it’s absolutely a reasonable strategy under these (admittedly completely insane) circumstances.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Don't some in the current admin want them to dump bonds though?

[–] [email protected] 45 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

The world dumping US bonds en masse would herald the destruction of the USD global standard. It is difficult to overstate the economic chaos and destruction that would follow.

So, yeah, I wouldn’t be shocked if someone in the orangeboi admin had a brainwave and decided “let’s get rid of US Government Bonds”

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I'm waiting for them to start talking about a 'controlled default', aka 'a default'.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 days ago

And I’d bet a year’s (or a quarter’s? Or a month’s?) salary (that’s a joke about hyperinflation) that they’ll blame it on Biden, and their imbecilic cult followers will believe it.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I read a theory that they want to devalue the USD to bolster exports, while holding access to the US market hostage in order to negotiate a new deal that keeps the USD as a reserve currency. TBH, if the US market was as important for the world as it used to be post WWII, perhaps they could pull that off without uncontrollable hemorrhage. Today though.. that's not as strong of a hand as they might think.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 days ago

I'm not convinced we have any hand whatsoever. The world economy might be thrown into a bit of chaos, but more and more countries are starting to tell the US to go fuck itself. It's not inconceivable to think of the US being completely irrelevant and ignored economically within the next decade.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Can I read more about this somewhere?

[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 days ago

Of course!

It was honestly a masterclass in geoeconomics. Canada coordinating this response, and Japan being one of the biggest components of the scheme, was absolutely the primary reason that the whole 90d delay thing happened. It was, in geopolitical terms, this meme:

[–] [email protected] 43 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

If you make your culture car based you better make access to cars cheap

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago

I look forward to Tesla becoming the modern Lada as we (USA) go full-on isolationist. Tesla rates as highly unreliable now, but just think of all the cost cutting that will take place when there's no regulation or competition!

[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 days ago (1 children)

And I want to be able to buy a small kei truck.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 days ago

At a reasonable 3 -$5k.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Always liked Japan. Also a very beautiful country, with very humble and intelligent people.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 days ago (2 children)

But according to everyone who has been to Japan, they have a weird way to be racist. Like people in Mexico... "No somos racistas!.....but then "negro negrito cara de mi...." And "guero guerejo patas de conejo!" And in general there's quite a bit of open racism that nobody questions. In Japan, you can't go into certain restaurants or bath houses. And Japanese people tend to not marry outside of their nationality. Allegedly.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 days ago

Hell, Hawaii is a hotbed of racism.

And if you read on their history and what the US did to them, I kinda get why they may not like whitey so much.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I guess. Doesnt bother me. Its their country, they can have the culture they want. I think all countries have been quite racist at some point. With time, it decreases and different people become more accepted.

Japan is an Island and probably not too open to immigration, so that explains the racism. We have all been there at some point as countries.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago

Do not mention the "Nanking Incident".