2 weeks Ago
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba answers questions from the press after a meeting between the leaders of the ruling and opposition parties, at the Prime Minister’s Office on April 4, 2025. [Jiji Press] TOKYO, Japan — Calls are growing in Japan for a major economic stimulus package including a consumption tax cut to cushion the blow to the Japanese economy from US President Donald Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs. With food and other prices still rising, even ruling party officials have started to demand a consumption tax cut as a key policy for this summer’s election for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the country’s parliament.
Since a reduction in the major tax would have a big impact on the state finances, senior government officials are trying to prevent the calls from growing further. “We’ll fully scrutinize the impact on domestic industry and make every effort to provide necessary support,” Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told a meeting Friday with leaders of other political parties called by the prime minister. He suggested that his administration is considering additional economic measures.
In a meeting in late March with Tetsuo Saito, head of Komeito, Ishiba mentioned a need for “powerful measures against high prices” ahead of the Upper House election. Komeito is the coalition partner of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. But Ishiba came under fire for that because the government’s fiscal 2025 budget was still under parliamentary deliberation.
Even after this, some people in the ruling parties still back Ishiba’s idea. Asked about a possible consumption tax cut for food items, Komeito policy head Mitsunari Okamoto told a press conference Wednesday, “We want to discuss various things without ruling out any options.” A veteran member of Komeito said, “Some of our party members are talking about tax cuts.
” At the LDP, gripped by a sense of crisis over unabated headwinds from money scandals, policy leaders from local chapters held a meeting Friday. Many participants called for formulating economic measures to address the persistent inflation, saying that the party is in a severe situation. One of the influential LDP lawmakers who have distanced themselves from Ishiba said that “it would be easy to cut consumption tax on food items.
” Two groups of lawmakers from the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan are increasing their activities to realize a consumption tax reduction. The Japanese Communist Party and Reiwa Shinsengumi have long been calling for such a tax cut. Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People, another opposition party, proposed income tax cuts and the abolition of the provisional gasoline tax surcharge at Friday’s meeting of party leaders.
“I want to call for a consumption tax cut without hesitation,” depending on the course of the economic situation, Tamaki told reporters after the meeting. As the consumption tax is a key revenue source to cover social security costs, however, there are many who criticize the idea of lowering it. LDP Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama said, “If you talk about a tax cut, you must also present (alternative) financial resources.
” With the full impact of Trump’s reciprocal tariffs on the Japanese economy still unclear, one government official admitted, “We’re in a state of limbo.” Subscribe to our daily newsletter By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy .
After the party leader meeting, Ishiba told reporters, “We’ll deal with the severe situation by joining all forces in the country.” But he did not mention specific measures..
