–Mainichi Exclusive: Resignation May Come Sooner Amid Calls from Within Ruling Party, Opposition Camp
By Max Sato
(MaceNews) – Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has decided to step down by the end of August after leading the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to a historic defeat in Sunday’s Upper House election, the Mainichi Shimbun daily reported Wednesday, quoting unnamed sources close to the leader.
Ishiba dodged the question as to whether he will stay in power during a news conference in which he announced a “mutually beneficial” trade agreement with Washington after rounds of ministerial talks.
The Mainichi said Ishiba, who has been leading the conservative LDP since September 2024, may express his intention to leave office even before the end of August, as voices within the LDP grow louder following the party’s stunning electoral loss.
Ishiba on Monday confirmed his intention to stay in power by “fulfilling the responsibility” Shortly after the polling stations were closed on Sunday, he just said the LDP “must be aware of its responsibility to the state” as the political party that still has the highest number of seats in the Diet.
Japan’s ruling coalition failed to clinch a majority in Sunday’s upper house elections, as widely expected, amid voter frustration over rising costs of living and a string of political funding scandals, just nine months after it lost a majority in the more powerful lower chamber of parliament.
It is the first time that the governing LDP has lost a majority in both chambers of the Diet since its inception in 1955, which is expected to mount pressure on Ishiba to step down.
The LDP’s setback came at a crucial time when Tokyo needs a solid government to protect households and small businesses from the drag from Trump tariffs and elevated inflation around 3%, the highest among the Group of Seven major economies that is largely due to rising costs for processed food. The LDP has been blamed for having kept rice production low to shore up wholesale rice prices for farmers (formerly a key voter base) even after it officially ended its 46-year-old policy in 2018.
Ishiba said the Trump administration has agreed to lower its tariff on imports of Japanese automobile to 15%, half of the current 25% (12.5) plus the existing 2.5% duty, without imposing any caps on import volumes.
On reciprocal tariffs, the embattled prime minister said Tokyo has managed to lower U.S. tariffs to 15% from President Trump’s original plan to slap 25% on all imports from Japan.
“We always seek the best (results) but in the negotiation world, it’s not all or nothing,” Ishiba said. “I think this is a major breakthrough because we won the biggest cut in tariffs among countries with a trade surplus with the United States.”
Washington reassured that Japan would not be at disadvantage against other economies if the U.S. were to impose tariffs on strategically important goods such as semiconductors and pharmaceuticals in the future.
In a broader strategic move, Ishiba said Tokyo and Washington have agreed to work closely together to build strong supply chains in the U.S. for critical sectors including chips, drugs, steel, shipbuilding, key minerals, air transport, energy, automobiles, artificial intelligence among others.
In the trade deal on building “mutually beneficial” supply chains, Tokyo will spend up to $550 billion by making investments and extending loans from Japan Bank for International Cooperation and providing underwriting by Nippon Export and Investment Insurance.
Ishiba said the trade accord does not involve lowering Japan’s tariffs on imports of U.S. agricultural goods. Instead, he said Tokyo will use its existing “minimum access” method to allow imports of farm produce to some extend which is designed to protect domestic farming communities, formerly a key support group for the ruling party.
The Prime Minster emphasized the trade deal reflects what he has been pushing for since he had a meeting with President Trump at the Oval Office in February: increasing cross-border investments over imposing tariffs.