WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump pressed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to have Japanese automakers produce more vehicles in the United States, according to a readout of their recent meeting provided by the U.S. ambassador to Japan on Saturday.
The two discussed recent public announcements by Japanese car makers, such as Toyota Motor Corp.'s decision to invest more in U.S. plants.
"We talked about the need to see more movement in that direction but I think the president feels very positive that we will see such movement because all the economics support that," said Ambassador William Hagerty.
Trump told a campaign rally in Green Bay, Wis., on Saturday that Abe said Japan would invest $40 billion in U.S. car factories, though Trump did not give details on the timeline for the planned investments. It also wasn't clear how much of that figure was for new plants or if that figure included ongoing investments in existing plants.
Toyota and Mazda Motor Corp. in November broke ground on a $1.6 billion joint venture auto plant in Alabama. In March, Toyota said it plans to invest another $749 million and add about 600 jobs at plants in five states as part of a U.S. manufacturing expansion that now is expected to total $13 billion by 2022.
Trump has prodded Japanese automakers to add more jobs in the United States as the White House threatens to impose tariffs of up to 25 percent on imported vehicles, on the grounds of national security.
Trump on Friday said it is possible that the United States and Japan could reach a new bilateral trade deal by the time he visits Tokyo in May, but he and Abe cited areas where they differ on trade.
"We want to ensure that the U.S. has trading terms with Japan that are no less favorable than any other nation," Hagerty said in a phone call with reporters.
He added that Trump is planning to attend the summit of the Group of 20 industrialized nations set to take place in Osaka, Japan in June.
Separately, Trump was optimistic trade talks with China would be successful, the ambassador said.
Automotive News contributed to this report.
