President Donald Trump on Friday threatened tariffs on Japanese goods, if the US trade deficit with Tokyo is not equal, as he met Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Washington.
Ishiba, who is only the second foreign leader who visited the White House since Trump returns to power, praised the US President as he tried to create a bond with Mercurial Trump.
As he met at the Oval Office, Isaba “uncontrolled appearance that you stood up and raised your fist in the sky” after Republican avoided an attempt to murder last year.
The Japanese premiere-whose country is a major American ally against a growing China and nuclear-head North Korea-said that its country was the largest investor in the United States and will increase its expenses.
But Trump insisted that he wanted “equality” in trade balance between the two countries – and said “yes” when asked if he could follow the tariff if no progress was made.
Trump also said that both Nippon would discuss the thorny issues of Steel’s blocking acquisition bid of American steel.
The President has previously supported his predecessor Joe Biden’s decision to stop the deal, but the US media reported that he could trust.
Ishiba is unlikely to replicate Trump’s close relationship with former premiere and golf big Shinzo Abe in the first term of the US President, a “geek” and model warship fan.
But Trump said that Abe, who was murdered in 2022, was “tremendous honor” for Ishiba.
‘Golden Age’
The key to ISIBA will be to protect Japan from the tariffs that Trump slapped on China, then stopped at Mexico and Canada, and promised to levy on the European Union.
Before the journey, Isaba told reporters in Tokyo, “It would be amazing if we can confirm that we will work together for the development of this region and the world, and for peace,” Before the journey, before the journey in Tokyo Said to reporters.
The soft-spoken, cigarette-smoking Ishiba is expecting that Japanese investment in the United States will appeal to Trump’s “US First” policies.
Leaders are expected to issue a joint statement to build the “golden age” of bilateral relations, the Nikkei newspaper of Japan reported that the US President’s inaugural speech resonating the slogan.
The Isaba is also ready to tell Trump that Japan will increase defense procurement from the United States, it is said in the Nikkei report.
Japan is one of the closest colleagues in Washington, with around 54,000 American military personnel deployed in the country.
Under Abe, Japan was preserved from some more punitive tendencies of Trump, such as a sudden trade war and pressure to increase financial contribution to hosting American soldiers.
A few days after Trump’s first election victory, Abe raced to give him a golden golf club. Trump hosted Abe’s widow Aki for dinner at his Mar-e-Lago Resort in Florida last December.
An official of the Japanese Foreign Ministry said in Tokyo that “We hope that leaders will be able to form a relationship with personal trust”.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is published by a syndicated feed.)
