Trump and Takaichi Announce ‘Golden Age’ in US-Japan Relationship

On 28 October 2025, US President Trump and Japanese PM Takaichi sgined a Framework Agreement to extend cooperation in the fields of #CriticalMinerals / #RareEarths and Nuclear Power Technology. In July 2025, then Japanese PM Shigeru Ishiba pledged to invest up to USD 550 billion into the USA in response to the US #tariffs on Japanese goods.

Takaichi accompanied Trump on a tour of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington. Trump has been urging Japan to spend more on its military and the security services provided by the US. In that regard, Trump announced that the first batch of missiles for the 5th generation F-35 fighters would be making its way to Japan soon.

As another important step, Takaichi revealed that Toyota will be investing USD 10 billion to build auto plants in the US. Toyota and other Japanese automakers breathed a sigh of relief as Trump kept tariffs at 15%, instead of putting his threat into action to raise them to 24%.

The US is urging Japan to buy more energy and agricultural products from the US. Initially, Japan was reluctant to open its market to US rice, but a compromise seems to have been found and Trump was actually served American rice during the state banquet in his honor.

Trump was pleased to announce that Japan will provide up to USD 332 bilion to support the building of infrastructure in the US, including the construction of a new nclear reactor and several small modular reactors. Westinghouse, Toshiba, and Mitsubishi are in talks to partner in the civil nuclear energy sector.

Since the Trade Deal in July 2025, Japan changed its Prime Minister, therefore it was imporant to reconfirm the agreements so far and expand cooperation in the future.The general tone of the US – Japan Pact is to reduce dependencies on China, while bolstering cooperation in other regions such as Africa and Asia.