President Trump is not a normal person,” says Prime Minister Ishiba, who believes the US-Japan tariff agreement document is unnecessary, saying the “demerits outweigh the benefits.

On August 4th, Japan’s Parliament held a budget committee meeting to discuss the recent U.S.-Japan agreement on tariffs. Opposition parties demanded a written agreement to avoid misunderstandings, especially since the deal involves the Trump administration.

Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party, warned:
"This is the Trump administration. Without a written agreement, things could easily be twisted."

Prime Minister Ishiba responded that creating a written document could actually cause delays, especially with someone like Trump who "changes the rules." He said Japan’s biggest concern is that formalizing the deal might slow down the planned cuts to auto tariffs.

Ishiba emphasized that while a written deal has pros and cons, in this case, the downsides outweigh the benefits. He said taking action is more difficult than just agreeing, and promised to stay focused on getting the U.S. to sign the executive order to lower car tariffs.