Over the past two weeks, America’s aspiring dictator, Donald Trump, threw world markets into chaos when he slapped ridiculous tariffs on everybody. That included Japan, which saw a 25% tariff slapped on automobiles.
The Trump admin insisted the auto tariffs were necessary to force Japan to buy more American cars, which it insists Japan doesn’t buy because…well, um, Japan demands that they be safe. In reality, Japan doesn’t buy a ton of American cars because the honking monstrosities, designed as they are for the wide-open roads of Bumfuck Montana, don’t fit on most Japanese streets.
Trump has rescinded most of the insane tariffs after he almost crashed the bond market. And while his sycophants are busy screaming “MASTERFUL GAMBIT SIR” as he withdraws his member from the slammed door of his Tesla, Japan is left scrambling to figure out how to deal with the current 10% tariff. They’re also facing the possibility that the Mad King will change his mind over breakfast tomorrow as he continues laying down new tariffs and issuing random exemptions.
The tariff chaos is More Bad News(TM) for Japanese consumers, who are already struggling with rising prices on everything from utilities and health care premiums to rice. The tariff announcement led to calls on Japan’s government to respond in some fashion that would reduce the impact on Japanese consumers.
One idea that came up was a proposal to give Japanese residents some form of cash subsidy. The idea isn’t unheard of, as Japan provided a 100,00 yen (USD $702) payment to residents during the COVID-19 crisis.
The idea seems to have first floated in the Japanese news media around April 9th, with Nikkei saying that LIberal Democratic Party (LDP) member policy research committee head Onodera Itsunori urged Cabinet Secretary Hayashi Yoshimasa to consider a one-time cash subsidy to everyone in Japan.
