As Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration struggles to deal with U.S. President Donald Trump, local government leaders around the country, many of whom are members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, are expressing caution and concern about what Trump has said and plans to do. They are also reminding voters that a U.S. president, while the head of the executive branch of government, is checked by Congress.
Trump's cancellation of the contentious Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, which he had long promised to do once in office and which most media reports had indicated was dead well before he took office, apparently caught Japan's political and corporate leaders by surprise. But his Twitter comments criticizing Toyota and Japan in general has put Japanese leaders on the defensive even as the prospect of a bilateral free trade deal between the U.S. and Japan is floated.
Aichi Prefecture, home to Toyota Motor Corp. and a major center for Japan's auto industry, was especially concerned following Trump's threat to levy a border tax on Toyota if it built a plant in Mexico instead of the U.S.