US, Japan Agree To Address Trade Deficit, Raise Investments In US To USD1 Trl

(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) WASHINGTON, Feb 7 (KUNA) -- US President Donald trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba concurred Friday on addressing US USD 100 billion trade deficit with Japan and cooperating to combat "Chinese economic aggression".
In a joint news conference following their meeting in the White House, President Trump said Prime Minister Ishiba and I spoke long and hard about a vital economic relationship between the two countries and the continuance of that relationship.
"The United States and Japan trade over USD 300 billion in goods and services each year. We have a trade deficit with Japan of over USD 100 billion, but we're going to work that out and I think very quickly," Trump said.
"Frankly, we can do it just on oil and gas, we can work it out, so we intend to do it very quickly."
The US leader indicated that Japan has invested nearly USD 800 billion in the United States and is planning to increase these investments very substantially in the coming months, more than any other country.
"As a result of our victory in 2024, the Presidential election, the Japanese investment and technology giant, SoftBank announced plans to invest between USD 100 and USD 200 billion,
"And Japan is going to be opening up Auto plants. New auto plants are being built currently. As we -- as we speak, they've just been started. Toyota is one and Nissan is going to be doing something very exciting -- about US steel. They'll be looking at an investment rather than a purchase," he added.
President Trump noted that the US and Japan will cooperate even more closely to combat the Chinese economic aggression "which is quite aggressive".
"I'm also pleased to announce that Japan will soon begin importing historic new shipments of clean American liquefied natural gas in record numbers," he disclosed.
For his part, the Japanese Premier Ishiba said he and President Trump concurred to strengthen the deterrence and response capabilities of the Alliance and to work closely in addressing strategic challenges that both countries are facing in this region.
"I conveyed to the president that Japan, as an ally of the United States, is ready to share responsibilities and to play its own role.
"I also reiterated Japan's unwavering commitment to fundamentally reinforcing its defense capabilities and reconfirmed the unwavering commitment by the United States to the defense of Japan," he said.
Ishiba noted that Japan is the closest economic partner of the United States and has been the world's largest investor in the United States for five consecutive years.
"Also with the inauguration of President Trump, the momentum for Japanese companies to invest in the United States is growing even stronger. Today, I conveyed my willingness to cooperate together to elevate Japan's investment in the United States to an unprecedented amount of USD 1 trillion," he announced.
He unveiled that they have also agreed on strengthening each other's industries, leading the world in developing advanced technologies such as AI and leading edge semiconductors and strongly promoting efforts to harness the energy of the growing market in the Indo-Pacific region
"We also confirmed that we will cooperate to strengthen energy security between the two countries including increasing exports of United States liquefied natural gas to Japan in a mutually beneficial manner," he said. (end)
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