According to the U.S. New York Post, U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Ho Chi Minh boarded the aircraft carrier "George Washington" on October 28 in Yokohama, Japan. Trump claimed that Japan's Toyota Motor Company pledged to invest $10 billion in the United States and called on U.S. military personnel to buy Toyota cars.

When Trump delivered a speech on the US aircraft carrier on the 28th, sanae takaichi was around (Source: Associated Press)

According to the report, Trump is visiting three Asian countries, such as Japan, to focus on trade and economic cooperation. In his speech, he claimed that the high market early morning told him that ¡°Toyota will invest $10 billion to build automotive factories across the United States.¡± Trump told U.S. soldiers in Japan: ¡°They want to build factories across the United States for $10 billion.

The British "Independent" said that Trump has long emphasized the policy direction of "giving priority to the United States", but in this speech in Japan, he called on US military personnel to buy cars made by Japanese companies.

According to a report by Reuters on the 29th, Toyota Motor Corporation denied making the above investment commitment. Ueda, executive director of Toyota Motor Corporation, said at the 2025 Japan Mobility Exhibition in Tokyo that the company did not explicitly commit to investing $10 billion in the United States.

According to the report, Ueda explained: "During Trump's first term, I remember that the amount (Toyota invested in the United States) was about US$10 billion. Although we didn't mention investment of the same size, we did explain that investment would continue and jobs would be created as in the past. So, it may be because of this background that the figure of 'about $10 billion' was mentioned."

Toyota also revealed that the chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation, Toyota, spoke briefly with Trump at an event at the U.S. Embassy in Japan on the evening of 28th, but did not mention investment-related issues.

Extended reading

$3900 billion, the high city government sends ¡°honesty¡± to the United States

Japan, which has long been delayed, has made new progress in its $55 billion investment mechanism.

As one of the core mechanisms in the trade framework agreement signed by Japan and the United States in September this year, the two governments published the "Japan-US Joint Fact List of Investment" on October 28th, listing the "potential" projects under this investment mechanism. The list involves 21 projects in four fields: energy, artificial intelligence (AI) power development, AI infrastructure enhancement and critical minerals, involving more than 20 Japanese and American companies. According to Reuters's analysis on the 28th, the Japanese government intends to show the US its sincerity in fulfilling the agreement by publishing the list of enterprises, but the project announced this time only stays at the "potential" level, vaguely reflecting that the government's intention may not be consistent with the actual situation of enterprises.

"No decision has been made to execute the investment"

According to the report, 16 of the 21 ¡°potential¡± projects listed on the 28th, have an estimated ¡°business size¡±, totaling $3934.5 billion, accounting for approximately 71.5% of the overall investment plan. Among the projects worth paying attention are the construction of nuclear reactors and small modular reactors led by U.S. nuclear energy developer West House, which may involve Japanese engineering enterprises such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Toshiba and others.

The Washington Post reported on the 29th that the U.S. government has signed a $80 billion nuclear reactor agreement with Westinghouse, and these reactors will be at least partially funded by Japan.

On October 28th, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshida Yoshida met with U.S. President Trump.

The Japanese companies mentioned in the list are mainly concentrated in the field of "AI infrastructure strengthening", involving Japanese manufacturing companies such as Hitachi, Mitsubishi Electric, Fujikura, TDK, Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd., and Panasonic. However, Japan's Kyodo News Agency reported on the 28th that the document only listed the projects of companies that expressed interest and had not yet decided to implement the investment.

Some analysts believe that the release of the document is at the time of the first summit of Japanese new prime minister, High Markets and Early News, with U.S. President Trump, in the context of the Japanese economy facing U.S. tariff policy pressure, High Markets and Early News attempt to build a closer relationship with the U.S. president. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Lutnik said in an interview with Japan Economic News on the 27th that more than half of the funds could be invested in electricity and energy development, and is expected to determine the first project within the year.

¡°The final decision is in the United States.¡±

Regarding the issue of investment dominance, several reports mentioned that the final project decision-making power of the investment plan is on the US side.

According to Reuters, although the subsequent negotiations will be based on whether the two countries will become real investments, "the ultimate decision-making power is in the United States."For example, the final investment decision-making is in the hands of the President of the United States, American enterprises can participate in the support system (funding, loans, loan guarantees) provided by the Japanese government to Japanese enterprises, the US government can get profits from investment, etc., all this makes the framework unfavourable and unequal to Japan.The analysis believes that although the nominal object of investment is "Japan's jointly promoted economic security field", in line with the national interests of Japan, the actual situation is closer to the purpose of the US government service "the rejuvenation and expansion of the American manufacturing industry".

The New York Times reported on the 27th that when confirming investment projects, Japanese officials are most worried that the US may choose projects that are not in line with Japan's strategic interests, which will force Japan to make a difficult choice: acquiesce, or refuse and face the risk of tariff retaliation.

An analysis by researchers at the Nomura Research Institute warned that although the investment plan is showing signs of a smooth start, it is necessary to continue to rigorously evaluate and test whether this investment framework is not conducive to Japan and harms Japan's interests in the future.

¡°Without documents, relations with the United States will be difficult to maintain.¡±

¡°The Japanese government and enterprises are facing pressure to increase spending in the U.S. due to the $55 billion commitment in the trade agreement,¡± The New York Times on the 28th, reflecting the economic burden that the plan could bring. Reuters that a Japanese government official during a meeting with Trump on the 28th, some ridiculously explained that the original commission issued a ¡°fact list¡± because ¡°the relationship with the U.S. would be difficult if there were no documents.¡±

Since the tariff agreement was reached, the Japanese government has been encouraging companies to move forward with the ability to invest in the United States. Senior government officials in the negotiations have revealed: ¡°It would be best if the first project could be announced during the Trump visit.¡± ¡°There were companies who expressed their intention to participate at the time, but the final selection of the first project was still delayed because of ¡°lack of time.¡± The main reason is that the scale and content of the project must be satisfying to Trump, and the investment structure is complex, and the company needs extra time to assess risk.¡± The official said: ¡°If the return on investment is high, the company does not need the government to push itself. The difficulty lies in how it makes companies feel necessary to participate in this complex investment framework.¡±

The picture shows the logo of Toyota Motor Company (data map/Photo taken by Xinhua Agency reporter Du Xiaoyi)

According to the Nikkei Asian Review, Trump said in Yokosuka, Japan, that Japanese leaders told him that Toyota "will build new automobile factories all over the United States, with a total scale of over $10 billion". In response, a Toyota spokesman said that it was verifying the specific matters referred to in the remarks.

In addition, Japanese media said that Takashi Haraimu tried to implement investment commitments in exchange for the United States to maintain the tariff cap at 15%, but the plan needs to be fully implemented before January 2029 and there is still pressure for implementation. At present, it seems that the announcement of the project list shows Japan's attitude, but the conversion of projects into actual investment still needs to wait for the company's decision, and the rate of return and policy environment will be the focus of the company's consideration.