Under US pressure on trade, Japan scrambles ahead of White House visit

TOKYO: Japan is scrambling to respond to intensifying trade pressure from US President Donald Trump, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe planning to meet the head of Toyota Motor Corp this week and business lobby Keidanren setting up a Trump task force.

Abe will visit Washington Feb 10 for talks with Trump at which the US leader is expected to seek quick progress toward a two-way trade deal with Japan and discuss the automotive sector.

Ahead of those talks, Abe will meet with Toyota Chief Executive Akio Toyoda, two sources told Reuters. One of them said the meeting would take place on Friday.

In a phone call with Abe on Saturday, Trump reiterated his pledge to create jobs in the United States and asked that the Japanese auto industry contribute, the Nikkei business daily reported, quoting unidentified Japanese government officials.

The two leaders discussed the automotive industry, senior government spokesman Koichi Hagiuda told reporters after the phone call, without giving details. A White House statement said the two “committed to deepen the bilateral trade and investment relationship.”

Abe has left open the door to discussing a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States but some officials worry Japan would have little to gain while coming under intense pressure from Washington.

Bilateral talks on specific sectors such as autos, however, are an option, officials have said.

Trump, who last week dropped out of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership pushed by his predecessor Barack Obama and favoured by Abe, has repeatedly attacked Japan’s auto market as closed in an echo of criticism heard two decades ago.

Japan has rejected that criticism, saying it does not impose tariffs on US auto imports nor put up discriminatory non-tariff barriers.

Over the decades, Japanese automakers have developed SUVs, minivans and pickup trucks specifically targeting American consumers’ taste for bigger cars, while US brands have struggled to make inroads in Japan, where drivers overwhelmingly prefer domestic brands.

Foreign-brandedcarsaccounted for only 7 percent of the passenger car market, led by Germany.

American brands collectively made up less than a third of 1 percent of passenger cars sold in Japan last year.

Toyota has come under fire from Trump for plans, announced in 2015, to shift production of its Corolla to Mexico from Canada.

Earlier this month, Japan’s top automaker said it would invest US$10 billion in the United States over the next five years, the same as the previous five years.

Toyota says it directly employed about 40,000 American workers as of December 2015 and indirectly more than 200,000 if dealers and suppliers are included. — Reuters