U.S. President Donald Trump struck a trade deal with Japan that lowers tariffs on auto imports and spares Tokyo from punishing new levies on other goods in exchange for a $550 billion package of U.S.-bound investment and loans.

T he U.S. and Japan have reached a trade agreement under which the longtime U.S. will face a 15% tariff—down from a previously threatened 25%—President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday, as Japan’s Prime Minister hailed the move as a “new golden era” in the relationship between the two countries.

The deal with Japan comes days ahead of the 1 August deadline, when 25% tariff rates on Japanese imports were due to take effect.

When President Donald Trump revealed that his administration had struck a "massive" trade and investment deal with Japan, he described it as "completed"—but it must still pass the Japanese parliament, called the Diet, which is riven with political turmoil.

President Trump says his new trade deal with Japan will generate massive U.S. profits and lower tariffs, but Morning Joe's economist analyst Steve Rattner says American consumers will end up footing the bill.

The right-wing populist party Sanseito made big strides in parliamentary elections in Japan, capitalizing on concerns about the economy, immigration and overtourism.

He’s a wheeler-dealer, our president, needless to say, and he’s kind of cutting these deals — but he has scared these people, and he’s leveraged American bargaining

US stocks are floating near all-time highs as Wall Street maintains cautious optimism that Washington might ink more trade deals, avoiding a worst-case scenario of extraordinarily high tariffs and enabling the resilient economy to continue chugging along.