Japan execs heed Trump call for US investment

Japanese corporate leaders seized on President Donald Trump's visit to Tokyo on Tuesday to announce a basket of initiatives aimed at currying favour with the US administration and mitigating potential trade frictions.

- RIVER AKIRA DAVIS

Toyota Motor will begin importing vehicles it makes in the United States and opening its distribution network in Japan to US automakers, according to a White House memo.

The move by the world's biggest automaker is a direct response to Trump's longstanding complaints that Japanese manufacturers sell millions of vehicles in the United States each year, while American cars are not sold widely in Japan, where consumers tend to prefer smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles made by domestic manufacturers. Vehicles imported from the United States typically make up less than 1% of total passenger cars sold in Japan.

Japan's trade ministry also announced Tuesday a list of other domestic companies interested in investing in projects as part of $550 billion Japanese officials had agreed to fund in the country's tariff deal with the Trump administration. The projects ranged from ones related to artificial intelligence to a nuclear reactor-construction initiative that was expected to be worth up to $100 billion and involve Japanese firms Mitsubishi Heavy and Toshiba.

Other companies that Japan's trade ministry said were considering multi-billion-dollar investments included SoftBank and Panasonic.