TOKYO TARIFFS

While cinching a trade deal with Japan is good news, hold the applause. Pre-trade war, the tariff on non-agricultural Japanese imports was 1.6%, it’s now 9x higher at 15%. Consumers will eventually feel this. The deal also calls for $550 billion in Japanese investment in the US. Unfortunately, the trade deficit, which must equal net foreign investment in the US, must now rise by you guessed it, $550 billion.