The United States President Trump will begin a three-day visit to Japan starting next Monday (October 27th). During this time, the Japanese automotive giant Toyota Motor is expected to announce a plan to “bring back” cars produced at its U.S. factories to the domestic market in Japan.
Trump’s visit to Asia comes at a time when the United States is actively reshaping global supply chains and responding to geopolitical tensions.
Trump has long expressed dissatisfaction with the huge trade deficit that the United States has with Japan. Toyota’s repatriation plan aims to proactively respond to U.S. demands in order to reduce the trade deficit for the United States.
According to reports from Nikkei News and the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK), Toyota President Akio Toyoda is expected to announce this plan during a meeting between Trump and Japanese business leaders.
Trump has criticized Japan’s safety standards and regulatory differences as non-tariff barriers hindering American-made cars from entering the Japanese market. This trip will advance further opening of the Japanese market to American-made cars.
Furthermore, this move is in line with Trump’s commitment to “Make America Make More,” encouraging Japanese companies to increase manufacturing and exportation of products in the U.S.
The report mentions that Toyota is considering introducing models currently only sold in the U.S., such as the Camry sedan and the Tundra pickup, into the Japanese market through its domestic dealer network.
The Japanese government is cooperating with this initiative by planning to relax regulations on importing American-made cars, considering allowing them to be sold domestically without additional testing.
While Toyota’s move may not significantly increase profits (due to characteristics like the large size of U.S.-made vehicles and left-hand drive that may not suit the Japanese market), it can provide greater flexibility for its global production and export business. More importantly, it can alleviate tariff pressure from the White House.
The Trump administration has previously threatened to impose tariffs of up to 25% on imported cars, which would bring billions of dollars in cost pressure to Toyota. Top executives at Toyota have publicly stated multiple times that the company is working with the Japanese government to create an “environment conducive to importing American-made cars,” showing willingness to seek win-win solutions under tariff pressures.