Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, under growing pressure to step down over the historic loss of his ruling party in a weekend election, says he will decide on whether to resign after closely studying the tariff deal just struck with the United States.

The new agreement will expand bilateral trade ties, promote business cooperation and explore ways to diversify critical mineral supply chains.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Japan will form a joint venture to develop a liquefied natural gas project in Alaska though a Japanese government official said he was not aware of such plans.

Asian shares have rallied, with Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index up more than 3% after Japan and the U.S. announced a deal on President Donald Trump's tariffs.

JD Wetherspoon today said warm weather boosted trading after reporting a 5.1% rise in like-for-like sales for the 12 weeks to Sunday. The group, which operates 794 pubs, added that profits are in line with expectations after underlying sales lifted 5.1% in the financial year about to end.

President Trump says Tokyo will face 15% reciprocal tariffs instead of the 25% he had threatened earlier. Japan will invest $550 billion into the U.S., the president added in a social-media post late Tuesday.

The 15% tax is a meaningful drop from the 25% rate that Trump, in a recent letter to Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, said would be levied starting Aug. 1.

The president announced the trade framework – in what he said was ‘perhaps the largest Deal ever made’ – in a Truth Social post Tuesday

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will announce his resignation by the end of next month, Japanese media reported on Wednesday, following a bruising election defeat that cost his administration its upper house majority.