Tag - us-japan-relations

 
 

US JAPAN RELATIONS

Nippon Steel spent much of 2024 trying to gain approval for its planned takeover of U.S. Steel, facing regulatory and political hurdles.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 25, 2025
Nippon Steel sticks with U.S. Steel takeover after investment call
The comments from Nippon Steel President Tadashi Imai on Tuesday are the first from an executive of the company since Trump said the steelmaker was considering an investment.
Amid rising global defense spending, U.S. President Donald Trump's push for 5% of GDP on military budgets poses a challenge for American allies, including Japan, which is already struggling to meet its 2% target.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 25, 2025
U.S. defense spending demands could transform global security
The level of spending the U.S. is demanding could spark an arms race as adversaries try to match NATO and America's Asian allies.
U.S. Marines during training in Okinawa last month.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 22, 2025
U.S. Marines start to leave Japan, decades behind schedule
The U.S. base on Okinawa has relocated 105 Marines. But an agreement to move 9,000 in total is colliding with the perceived threat from a rising China.
An electric vehicle factory in Rayong, Thailand. Asian countries are among the most vulnerable to President Donald Trump's economic grievances — but also well-placed to make deals to minimize their exposure.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 22, 2025
How Trump’s tariffs could reorder Asia trade and exclude the U.S.
Asian countries are among the most vulnerable to Trump's economic grievances — but also well-placed to make deals to minimize their exposure.
Japan is the world's No. 2 LNG buyer, a major investor in energy infrastructure and a trading hub with a glut of LNG that could help open new markets for U.S. gas in Southeast Asia.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 22, 2025
Trump seeks to reshape Asia's energy supplies with U.S. gas
While the Alaska LNG proposal faces hurdles, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and others are buying into the idea of increasing U.S. gas imports more broadly.
Nissan in recent weeks has been searching for a strategic partner in the tech industry, with some board members suggesting Tesla and Apple as ideal targets, the Financial Times reported.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 21, 2025
Japan seeks Tesla investment in Nissan as Foxconn approaches Honda
Taiwan's Foxconn has reportedly proposed forming a partnership with Honda, aiming for a framework that would also include Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors.
While upholding his "America First" policy and transactional diplomacy, U.S. President Donald Trump has been emphasizing the importance of the U.S.-Japan relationship since his first term, from 2017 to 2021.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 20, 2025
Marking 80th year since Battle of Iwo Jima, Trump touts U.S.-Japan alliance
The bloody battle fought on the Pacific island between February and March of 1945 claimed some 21,900 lives on the Japanese side and about 6,800 among American forces.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Wednesday that the Japanese government has raised the issue of auto tariffs with the U.S. government, given the importance of Japan’s automobile industry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 19, 2025
Japan raises auto tariff issue with U.S. as Trump threatens hike
The U.S. president's threat to impose a 25% levy on car imports would likely deliver a big blow to Japan’s economy.
After U.S. President Donald Trump said he plans to impose tariffs of 25% on automobile imports to the United States, Japanese automakers are cautiously looking for ways to handle the situation.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 19, 2025
Major Japanese automakers wary of Trump tariffs
The U.S. president says he plans to impose tariffs of 25% on automobile imports to the U.S., though he has not said which countries would be subject to them.
Toyota agreed to transfer an existing order with LG Energy Solution to LG's battery plant in Michigan, sources said, after General Motors backed out of the project amid a slowdown in the growth of electric vehicle sales.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 19, 2025
Toyota is backing LG battery plant with $1.5 billion order
GM said in December it would sell its $1 billion stake in the Lansing, Michigan, plant, leaving LG scrambling to find new customers.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said that the situation surrounding Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel has improved under U.S. President Donald Trump.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 18, 2025
Ishiba questions the politics of Nippon Steel-U.S. Steel deal rejection
The "unjust political interference” was difficult to understand, the prime minister said, but he indicated that the situation has improved under Trump.
An F-35B stealth fighter jet loaded in the hangar of the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Kaga destroyer
JAPAN / FOCUS
Feb 17, 2025
SDF's biggest ships are being converted into de facto aircraft carriers
The Izumo and Kaga, each about 248 meters in length and 38 meters in width, are the largest vessels in the MSDF.
Hokkaido University Museum professor Yoshitsugu Kobayashi holds a news conference in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on Dec. 18 about the launch of a crowdfunding campaign for dinosaur fossil excavation surveys.
JAPAN
Feb 16, 2025
Crowdfunding raises ¥8.3 million for dinosaur fossil excavations
Through his excavation surveys, a Hokkaido University Museum professor aims to find out how dinosaurs survived cold winters and how they traveled to and from Asia.
Group of Seven top diplomats, including Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya (second from left) and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (right), meet on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in the German city on Saturday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 16, 2025
Japanese FM asks U.S. counterpart to exempt Tokyo from Trump tariffs
The foreign minister also said that he had broached the issue of Trump’s planned tariffs on automobiles imported to the U.S.
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul (left), U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (center) and Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya meet on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in the German city on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 16, 2025
Japan, U.S. and South Korea top diplomats reaffirm 'unshakeable' ties
The countries' top diplomats pledged to boost security and economic ties at their first meeting since Donald Trump's election, amid concerns over the relationship's durability.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House in Washington on Feb. 7.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 15, 2025
U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel were blindsided by Trump investment talk
The proposed investment following Donald Trump's meeting with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba wasn’t communicated to either of the steelmakers beforehand.
U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 15, 2025
Trump says new tariffs on autos coming around April 2
The auto threat offers to put some of the biggest brands in Japan, Germany and South Korea in Trump’s crosshairs.
The 50th ASEAN-Japan commemorative summit was held in Tokyo in December 2023. Japan has strong relations with ASEAN member countries and should continue leveraging this position to pursue its Free and Open Indo-Pacific vision.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Feb 14, 2025
Why ASEAN is crucial to a Free and Open Indo-Pacific
Tokyo understands ASEAN's centrality to the Free and Open Indo-Pacific vision better than Washington does and should continue leading in defending this regional order.
The U.S. Steel Mon Valley Works Edgar Thomson Plant in Braddock, Pennsylvania.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 14, 2025
Nippon Steel wants 100% of U.S. Steel, not a minority stake, report says
Last week, the deal appeared effectively dead after a meeting between Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and U.S. President Donald Trump.
U.S. Steel workers rally outside the company's headquarters in Pittsburgh in support of the takeover by Japan's Nippon Steel back in September.
EDITORIALS
Feb 14, 2025
The Nippon Steel deal’s lessons for the world
Former U.S. President Joe Biden’s stiff opposition to the deal may have created space, if not impetus, for President Donald Trump to resurrect the acquisition.

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Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.