Donald Trump, the former President of the United States, just returned from visiting Japan. During that visit, on the same trip, he met with Sanae Takaichi, the new Japanese prime minister. In this very same meeting, Trump said in passing that Toyota Motor Corporation was going to open new plants in the US. He claimed this step would lead to the first new investment in over $10 billion. Toyota was quick to refute these claims, telling transportation experts that no such promise had ever been conveyed.
Trump’s comments came earlier this week as he engaged in discussions with Takaichi, Japan’s first female prime minister. His predecessor, former president Geo Nakauchi, invented that contract with Takaichi. This agreement focuses on the mining and refining of rare earths and other strategic minerals. This agreement seeks to establish a solid basis for collaboration between the two countries in this strategic resource industry.
Hiroyuki Ueda. And he wasted no time rebutting Trump’s lies. Additionally, he touched on Toyota’s continued commitment to invest $28 billion and create 3,840 new jobs in the U.S. He added that $10 billion number is not the right one.
“During the first Trump administration, I think the figure was roughly around $10bn, so while we didn’t say the same scale, we did explain that we’ll keep investing and providing employment as before.” – Hiroyuki Ueda
Ueda went on to further explain. The company never explicitly committed to investing that $10 billion over the next several years. He explained that the context of the comments around Trump’s statement was probably part of why he included such a big name.
“So, probably because of that context, the figure of about $10bn came up.” – Hiroyuki Ueda
Beyond the usual talking points about investment, this time around, Trump again turned the occasion to exhort American consumers to buy Toyota cars. His comments were part of a larger ongoing discussion focused on deepening economic relations between the United States and Japan.
To their credit, aside from the confusion over the size of investment, Toyota seems serious about their plans to stay in the U.S. The company has found a home there all these years, helping produce thousands of jobs, creating economic prosperity along the way.