Trump tells Ishiba he wants Japan to eliminate trade deficit

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said he wanted the U.S. to eliminate its trade deficit with Japan during a meeting with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba that saw the visiting Japanese leader highlight new potential investments by some of his country’s automotive giants.

“I want to get other countries also to equality with the U.S. in terms of deficits,” Trump said, highlighting his concerns about trade in his first sitdown with the Japanese premier.

Ishiba is visiting Washington in a bid to shore up economic and defense links between the two major allies. Trump’s second-term agenda has unnerved not just U.S. adversaries but many longtime allies as well, as the U.S. president threatens tariffs on neighbors Canada and Mexico and demands that partners such as Denmark and Panama hand over territory.

Japan is one of the U.S.’ closest allies and trading partners and Ishiba is eager to avoid any economic fallout from Trump’s sweeping tariff threats – which the U.S. president has vowed to levy on friendly nations as well as antagonists – and reaffirm his country’s security alliance with Washington. Trump on Friday during the meeting also said he would announce reciprocal tariffs next week, marking a major escalation of his trade wars with U.S. partners.

To curry favor with the new president, Japan is looking to pledge new deals. Ishiba said Friday that the CEO of Toyota Motor Corp., shared with him plans to announce more U.S. investments and that Isuzu Motors Ltd. planned to build a plant and create jobs in the U.S. Ishiba also said recently he would ask Trump for a stable supply of energy when they meet.

While Trump hasn’t singled Japan out for tariffs since retaking power last month, he has long held concerns over the country’s trade surplus with the U.S., the weakness of the yen and the large market share for Japanese carmakers.

Japan has held the largest pile of foreign direct investment in the U.S. for the last five years. In December, Japanese company SoftBank Group Corp also pledged to invest $100 billion in the U.S. over four years, with Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son meeting with Trump at the president’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. SoftBank is also part of a joint venture to spend billions on new artificial intelligence infrastructure in the U.S.

Trump did dampen Japanese hopes for the completion of one major deal – Nippon Steel Corp.’s bid to buy United States Steel Corp. – which was blocked by former President Joe Biden. Trump, who during the presidential campaign opposed the transaction, said Friday that he had not changed his mind but would discuss the issue with Ishiba.

A Nippon executive recently said that he was hopeful the meeting between Ishiba and Trump could help advance the company’s proposed $14.1 billion acquisition. The two companies are suing the U.S. over the decision to block the deal.

Friday’s sitdown poses a leadership test for Ishiba, a relatively inexperienced premier heading a minority government with low approval ratings. He’ll also face comparisons with the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who had a warm relationship with Trump, and whose widow, Akie, visited the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in December.

Senior administration officials who briefed reporters on the talks between Trump and Ishiba ahead of their meeting said that bolstering foreign investment in the U.S., including cooperation on defense, artificial intelligence, semiconductors and cybersecurity, would be high on their agenda. The officials shared details on the discussions on condition of anonymity.

Security matters will also be paramount in their discussions, the officials said, in a bid to jointly address threats in the Indo-Pacific region. The senior U.S. officials said the leaders would discuss realistic training exercises, defense equipment and technology, as well as ways to improve cybersecurity capabilities and cooperation in space.

Ishiba has said he wants to work with Trump to bolster the U.S.-Japan alliance, particularly as China looks to expand its influence in the region. Former President Joe Biden sought to build up U.S. ties with Japan and other allies in the region such as South Korea and the Philippines to better counter China.

One source of tension is Trump’s call for Japan to increase how much it pays for the U.S. military presence on its soil. Talks on a new deal are set to begin in 2026. Trump has pressured U.S. allies, including NATO, to spend more on defense, claiming that Washington bears an unfair burden.