Japan’s Toyota Motor did not explicitly promise a new $10bn investment in the US, a senior executive said on Wednesday, a day after US President Donald Trump mentioned a potential investment of that size.
Speaking during his visit to Japan on Tuesday evening, Trump said the world’s largest carmaker would be looking to invest around $10bn in the US.
However, Toyota executive Hiroyuki Ueda told reporters that in talks with the Japanese government and the US embassy ahead of Trump’s visit, no such explicit promise was made about an investment of that size, adding Toyota would continue to invest and create jobs in the US.
“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. So, probably because of that context, the figure of about $10bn came up,” Ueda said on the sidelines of the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo.
“Therefore, we didn’t specifically say that we’ll invest $10bn over the next few years.”
Ueda also said the topic of investment did not come up when Toyota chair Akio Toyoda briefly spoke to Trump at a US embassy event on Tuesday evening.
Trump met 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.
Reuters
