President Trump's trade strategy, marked by elevated tariffs, is yielding agreements with nations like the EU, Japan, and Vietnam. The EU accepted 15% US tariffs and committed to significant purchases and investments.

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.

It is the most significant of a clutch of agreements Trump has bagged since unveiling sweeping global levies in April, though like other deals, exact details remained unclear.

Over the past few decades, Japan-based automaker Toyota has spent billions of dollars to expand its manufacturing and assembly plants in the United States. Those plants now employ over 64,000 people across North America and have churned out millions of vehicles.

"The trade deal struck with the U.S. is certainly a relief in that it offers some certainty that U.S. tariffs on Japan-made cars won't rise to punitive levels," said Stefan Angrick, head of Japan and Frontier market economics at Moody's Analytics.

Japanese automakers received a temporary reprieve this week when U.S. President Donald Trump announced a cut to import tariffs on Japan-made vehicles, reducing the rate from 25% to 15%. But industry experts warn the move offers little comfort as Japanese brands face intensifying competition from China and structural economic hurdles at home.

President Donald Trump struck a new trade deal with the European Union on Sunday, allowing the EU to avoid a 30% tariff rate that was scheduled to begin on Aug. 1. Trump met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen over the weekend and discussed the new trade deal,

The EU, a group of countries with shared economic interests, exports about $2 trillion worth of goods to the U.S. The 27 countries had hoped for a lower tariff of 10%, similar to the deal Trump negotiated with the U.K. and well below the original threat of 30% tariffs, but most analysts expected something closer to 15%.

Steep tariffs on U.S. imports of steel and aluminum remain, however, and many other countries, including South Korea and Thailand, have yet to clinch agreements. Overall, economists say the tariffs inevitably will dent growth in Asia and the world.