Newly manufactured vehicles awaiting export at a port in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Japan, on March 27, 2025.
Issei Kato | Reuters
Major Japanese automakers have denied to CNBC that they have raised costs within the U.S. due to tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.
That comes after a Nikkei Asia report on Thursday that acknowledged that Japanese automakers are “passing some of the expense of U.S. tariffs through to American car buyers, a change from their strategy of absorbing the impact.”
Japan was hit with 25% tariffs on vehicles in April, however that was lowered to 15% under a deal reached with the Trump administration on July 22.
Toyota, Japan’s largest automaker, advised CNBC on Thursday that when its U.S. affiliate raised costs in July, it was “not in response to the tariffs or prospects of increases, but rather a regular, annual price increase to reflect increases in various operational costs.”
“We have said that we would observe the situation concerning the tariffs as governments were still negotiating then, but our general stance was not to increase prices to avoid making our cars unaffordable for the customers waiting for their vehicles,” the corporate added.
Reuters reported in June Toyota’s plan to improve costs by a mean of $270 in July, however a Toyota spokesperson additionally denied then that the hikes have been a direct results of U.S. tariffs.
In its monetary outcomes for the first quarter ended June 2025 — Toyota had estimated the impression of U.S. tariffs to be 450 billion yen ($3.03 billion) in its first quarter, and projected it could be 1.4 trillion yen for the total 12 months, taking the U.S.-Japan commerce deal into consideration.
Similarly, Honda advised CNBC it has been in a position to keep away from passing tariff costs instantly on its merchandise, saying the model has been in a position to achieve this as a result of it has extra automobiles within the top 20 of Cars.com’s American-Made Index than another model.
The index says it ranks fashions by “how American your prospective car or truck might be,” making an allowance for components equivalent to location of ultimate meeting and proportion of U.S. and Canadian elements.
Honda mentioned, “Any price changes for the 2026 Honda models now on sale are tied to added feature content that enhances value for the customer and boosts the competitiveness of our products.”
As for Nissan, the corporate mentioned costs haven’t been elevated due to U.S. tariffs, including that it was leveraging automobiles produced at its U.S. crops as a lot as potential to assist offset tariffs.
“At the same time, we are managing inventory to meet consumer demand while maintaining competitive pricing. We continue to monitor the market and will make adjustments as needed,” its response to CNBC added.