Japan auto majors say they aren’t passing tariff costs to U.S. consumers
Newly produced cars are waiting for exports at a port in Yokohama in the south of Tokyo, Japan on 27 March 2025.
ISSEI KATO | Reuters
Large Japanese automobile manufacturers rejected CNBC that they have increased prices in the US due to tariffs brought by Trump management.
This is a Nikkei Asia Report on Thursday This said that Japanese automobile manufacturers “some of the US tariffs have passed to American automobile buyers, a change from the strategies of absorbing the effect,” he said.
Japan was hit with 25% tariffs in cars in April, but this was reduced to 15% under an agreement reached with Trump administration on 22 July.
ToyotaJapan’s largest automobile manufacturer said on Thursday, when the US affiliated organization increased prices in July, “not in response to tariffs or expectations of increases, but rather a regular annual price increase to reflect the increases in various operational costs,” he said.
“We said that we would observe the situation about tariffs while the governments were still negotiating at that time, but our general stance was to increase prices to avoid making our vehicles suitable for customers waiting for our vehicles.”
Reuters reported In June, Toyota’s prices in July, an average increase in $ 270, but a Toyota spokesman rejected that hikes were a direct result of US tariffs.
In financial results For the first quarter Toyota, which ended in June 2025, estimated that the US tariffs were 450 billion ($ 3.03 billion) in the first quarter of the impact of US tariffs and predicted that it would be 1.4 trillion yen, taking into account the US-Japan trade agreement.
Similarly, Honda He told CNBC that the brand could do it because it can avoid passing tariff costs directly to its products because it is more intermediaries. Cars.com’s first 20 of the American -made index More than other brands.
The index says that taking into account the factors such as the location of the final assembly and the percentage of the US and Canada pieces, it says that “how your potential car or truck might be”.
“Any price change for the 2026 Honda models that are currently on sale depends on the additional feature content that increases the value for the customer and increases the competitiveness of our products.” He said.
As for Nissan, the company added that prices are not increased due to US tariffs and that they use vehicles produced in US plants as much as possible to balance tariffs.
“At the same time, we manage the inventory to meet the consumer demand while maintaining competitive pricing. We continue to watch the market and make adjustments when necessary.”
