Donald Trump on Wednesday announced trade deals with three Asian countries, Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia, but the one with India remains elusive despite five rounds of talks.

The talks for the bilateral trade agreement between India and US started in March 2025, and as another deadline looms on August 1, the to and fro between the two countries has continued.

India has reportedly remained reluctant to reduce tariffs in the agriculture and dairy sectors due to domestic sensitivities.

In the last round of talks, led by chief negotiator Rajesh Agrawal, India sought greater access to non-market economy mechanisms, special chemical & tech, industrial goods, textiles, gems and pharmaceuticals.

15% for Japan

The US President announced 15 per cent “reciprocal” tariffs for Japan in a ‘massive” deal where Japan is expected to invest $550 billion in the United States and the US would “receive 90% of the profits.”

As usual, Trump took to Truth Social to say that Japan will “open their Country to Trade including Cars and Trucks, Rice and certain other Agricultural Products, and other things.”

He also added that the deal would create "hundreds of thousands of jobs".

Trump's 'huge win' in Indonesia, 19% for Phillipines

According to reports, the trade deal with Indonesia would allow more American goods into the Southeast Asian country. Under the deal, the US will lower a planned tariff on Indonesian products from 32 to 19 per cent. On Truth Social, Trump said Indonesia will cut 99 per cent of its tariff barriers, making it easier for “US companies to sell industrial, tech and agricultural goods to them”.

Although the Philippines deal lacks some clarity, Trump said the US would impose a 19 per cent tariff rate on the Phillipines, down from 20 per cent.

Nikkei surges, but hurdles for Japan

America’s Big Three car manufacturers -- Ford, General Motors and Chrysler -- have red-flagged the Japan trade deal, saying the move could “cut tariffs on auto imports from Japan to 15 per cent while leaving tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico at 25 per cent,” Reuters reported.

Matt Blunt, the head of the American Automotive Policy Council that represents the Big Three, said they were still reviewing the agreement but “any deal that charges a lower tariff for Japanese imports with virtually no US content than the tariff imposed on North American built vehicles with high US content is a bad deal for US industry and US auto workers.”

But almost 5,000 miles away in Japan, the Nikkei 225 index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange traded 1,500 points higher Wednesday after the move by Trump.

South Korea's Kospi gained 0.89 per cent.

The US S&P 500 rallied to a record closing high, despite sharp losses in General Motors and gains in Tesla, as investors had their eyes peeled on the upcoming earnings reports while monitoring developments in the White House.

‘Not a good deal at all’

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who local media reported will soon resign after a bruising election defeat on Sunday, hailed the deal as “the lowest figure among countries that have a trade surplus with the US.”

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Seijiro Takeshita, dean, University of Shizuoka's Graduate School of Management, Informatics and Innovation, said: "It's not a good deal at all."

“This is a poker game Trump delegates are playing. Be it 25, 15, or 5 per cent, if there is no context or reasoning to it, then it should be abolished," he said, urging people to look beyond numbers.

Takeshita also warned Japan that Trump might not stand by his statements, “What he’s saying or writing today could change 180 degrees tomorrow.”

'Trump scared to death'

The over-the-top tariff approach by Donald Trump could have a Jeffrey Epstein angle to it.

As more transparency in the case is widely sought, critics of the US President are accusing him of playing the distraction card.

His Truth Social posts – from the one on Washington Redskins to the ones that talk about India-Pakistan ceasefire and tariff threats – spurred former Republican Congressman Joe Walsh to say that Trump is “scared to death of the Epstein files”.

Walsh – originally a Republican – ran against Trump for President in 2020.

Trump’s supporters, however, feel there is a method to his madness, and that the US trade deficit is a ticking time bomb for the country that the President wants to defuse with trade as his weapon as opposed to the gunboat diplomacy of yore.