Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi meets with U.S. President Donald Trump in Tokyo on Oct. 28. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The transport ministry on Dec. 19 began taking public comments about its plans to simplify safety test procedures for U.S.-made automobiles awaiting import into Japan.

Under a trade agreement concerning U.S. tariffs reached in September, cars manufactured in the United States that have passed safety tests there can be imported into Japan without additional testing.

The ministry plans to enact a revised ministerial order from late January, allowing it to determine if safety tests conducted in the United States are sufficient.

Japan has common safety testing standards with Europe that allow European cars to enter Japan without additional tests.

But the United States has its own safety standards, leading Japan to conduct additional safety tests on U.S. auto imports.

U.S. President Donald Trump described those additional tests as a non-tariff barrier.

He pointed to a “bowling ball test” involving the dropping of a ball from a height of about 2 meters onto a car hood to determine if it is pliant enough not to cause head injuries to pedestrians in a collision with the vehicle.

Under the ministry plan, car importers will be asked to provide documents about the results of safety tests conducted in the United States.

Ministry officials will look over those documents for each car model and determine if the results are sufficient enough for Japanese safety standards to allow for an exemption of further testing.

For example, a bowling ball test is not conducted in the United States for Ford Motor Co.’s F-150 pickup. But that model does have an automatic braking system designed to prevent collisions with pedestrians.

If ministry officials determine that function provides the needed safety tested with the bowling ball, the pickup could be imported without further tests.

In a related development, Toyota Motor Corp. said Dec. 19 that it plans to import and sell three models it now manufactures in the United States from the first half of 2026 after the transport ministry’s order is revised.

The models are the Camry sedan, the Highlander SUV and the Tundra pickup truck, which are all not currently sold in Japan.

(This article was written by Yuji Masuyama and Kaname Ohira.)

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