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Ishiba says no talk with Trump on vehicle tariffs at summit

Trump identifies Japan's US huge financial investment, visualchemy.gallery job creation

LNG, steel, AI and automobiles are areas Japan can buy US

Nippon Steel will operate under US management, wiki.fablabbcn.org personnel

Japan will not raise defence costs without public assistance

TOKYO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba revealed optimism on Sunday that his country might avoid higher U.S. tariffs, saying President Donald Trump had actually "recognised" Japan's substantial investment in the U.S. and the American tasks that it creates.

At his very first White House top on Friday, Ishiba told public broadcaster NHK, securityholes.science he explained to Trump how lots of Japanese car manufacturers were creating jobs in the United States.

The 2 did not specifically discuss car tariffs, Ishiba said, although he said he did not understand whether Japan would go through the reciprocal tariffs that Trump has actually said he prepares to enforce on imports.

Tokyo has up until now got away the trade war Trump unleashed in his first weeks in workplace. He has actually announced tariffs on products from Canada, oke.zone Mexico and China, although he postponed the 25% duties on his North American neighbours to permit talks.

The escalating trade stress considering that Trump went back to the White House on January 20 threaten to rupture the international economy.

Ishiba said he believes Trump "acknowledged the fact Japan has actually been the world's largest investor in the United States for 5 straight years, and is therefore various from other countries."

"Japan is creating numerous U.S. tasks. I believe (Washington) won't go straight to the idea of higher tariffs," he said.

Ishiba voiced optimism that Japan and wiki.whenparked.com the U.S. can prevent a tit-for-tat tariff war, stressing that tariffs ought to be put in place in a manner that "benefits both sides".

"Any action that makes use of or excludes the opposite won't last," Ishiba said. "The question is whether there is any problem in between Japan and the United States that calls for enforcing higher tariffs," he included.

Japan had the highest foreign direct investment in the United States in 2023 at $783.3 billion, followed by Canada and bybio.co Germany, according to the most current U.S. Commerce Department data.

Trump pressed Ishiba to close Japan's $68.5 billion yearly trade surplus with Washington however expressed optimism this might be done rapidly, given a promise by Ishiba to bring Japanese financial investment in the U.S. to $1 trillion.

On Sunday, Ishiba recognized melted natural gas, steel, AI and vehicles as locations that Japanese business could buy.

He likewise touched on Trump's pledge to take a look at Nippon Steel investing in U.S. Steel, rather than purchasing the storied American a prepared purchase opposed by Trump and obstructed by his predecessor, Joe Biden.

"Investment is being made to make sure that it remains an American business. It will continue to run under American management, with American staff members," Ishiba said. "The essential point is how to ensure it remains an American business. From President Trump's perspective, this is of utmost value."

On military costs, another location where Trump has actually pushed allies for increases, Ishiba said Japan would not increase its defence budget without first winning public backing. "It is crucial to ensure that what is considered necessary is something the taxpayers can understand and support," he said. (Reporting by Leika Kihara: Additional reporting by Tim Kelly; Editing by William Mallard)