The agreement - including a 15% tariff on all imported Japanese goods, down from a proposed 25% - is the most significant of the string of trade deals the White House has reached ahead of a August 1 deadline for higher levies to kick in.

Trump says the US has agreed to a "massive" trade deal with Japan, one of the country's largest trading partners. Separately, he also announced that the US would levy a 19% tax on imports from the Philippines and Manila would remove duties on US goods - an agreement that is yet to be confirmed by the Philippines.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he had cinched a trade deal with Japan, reducing the tax he had planned to levy on imports from a major trading partner as the deadline he has imposed for negotiations over tariffs nears.