The Japanese auto giant Toyota Motor has denied Donald Trump’s suggestion that it is poised to invest more than $10bn in the United States over the coming years.
On a visit to Japan earlier this week, the US president claimed he had been told that the carmaker was going to be setting up factories “all over” the US “to the tune of over $10bn”.
“Go out and buy a Toyota,” added Trump.
But a senior executive at Toyota – the world’s largest automaker – said that no such explicit promise of investment at that level had been made, although Toyota plans to invest and create new jobs in the US.
The firm held talks with Japanese and American officials ahead of Trump’s visit.
“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 told reporters, on the sidelines of the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo. “So, probably because of that context, the figure of about $10bn came up.”
Toyota “didn’t specifically say that we’ll invest $10bn over the next few years”, Ueda said, adding that the topic of investment did not come up when Akio Toyoda, the firm’s chairman, spoke with Trump at a US embassy event on Tuesday.
Trump met with Japan’s new prime minister and first female premier, Sanae Takaichi, on Tuesday. He welcomed Takaichi’s pledge to accelerate a military buildup, while also signing deals on trade and rare earths.
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During the visit, Takaichi pledged to realise a “golden age” in relations with the US and to “fundamentally reinforce” her country’s defense posture. The two leaders signed an agreement laying out a framework to secure the mining and processing of rare earths and other minerals.
Reuters contributed reporting
