TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan's leading trade negotiator said on Tuesday that the trade deal Tokyo agreed with the United States last week guarantees Japan will always receive the lowest tariff rate on chips and pharmaceuticals of all the pacts negotiated by Washington.

President Trump said on Tuesday that the trade deal he struck with one of America’s closest allies would impose a 15 percent tariff on Japanese exports.

Trump said the U.S. will impose a 15% tariff on Japanese imports under the agreement, which he hailed as "maybe the largest deal in history."

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.

Less than a week after President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba agreed on a trade deal, the situation has unraveled. Japan's highly export-driven automotive industry is in disarray and there are deep divisions in how the agreement is understood.

TACO or tariffs? An August 1 deadline looms after the European Union became the latest of the top US trading partners to reach a deal with Trump.

The new U.S.-Japan trade deal lowers tariffs and strengthens economic ties, helping challenge China's regional aggression and instability.

President Trump will get to decide where to invest Japanese money and the United States will keep 90 percent of the profits, the White House said.