‘Terrible fuel efficiency, no right-hand drive’: why trade deal won’t warm up Japan to American cars

Despite US President Donald Trump announcing that Japan will open its market to US cars as part of a new bilateral trade deal, American manufacturers face significant challenges selling vehicles in Japan. Trump highlighted the agreement, which includes 15% tariffs on imports like cars from Japan, stating it would allow US vehicles access to the Japanese market. He had previously complained about Japan not importing US cars while exporting millions to the US.

The US claims Japan uses non-tariff barriers (NTBs) to block American cars, citing very low imports: only 16,707 US vehicles entered Japan in 2024 according to the Japan Automobile Importers Association (JAIA). This contrasts sharply with over 250,000 European vehicles sold in Japan during the same period, dominated by German brands like Mercedes-Benz.

However, Japanese industry representatives strongly dispute the existence of NTBs for vehicles. JAIA's Sho Matsumoto stated member companies report no such barriers, and Takeshi Miyao of Carnorama consultancy confirmed there are no hurdles for US car imports, contrasting this with agricultural products like rice where barriers do exist to protect farmers. Miyao attributes the low sales primarily to US manufacturers like GM and Ford neglecting the Japanese market, failing to conduct marketing, and often not even offering right-hand drive models required in Japan.

Size is another major obstacle; large US vehicles like the Ford F-150 pickup (approximately 6 meters long and 2 meters high) are ill-suited for Japan's narrow roads and small parking spaces. Additionally, US cars suffer from a persistent negative image in Japan regarding reliability and fuel efficiency, dating back to models like Cadillacs. This perception is reinforced by the 2025 Consumer Reports reliability rankings, where Japanese brands (Subaru, Lexus, Toyota, Honda) occupied the top four spots, while American brands (Jeep, GMC, Cadillac, Rivian) filled the bottom four.