Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Tuesday announced a massive $550 billion investment plan in the United States, marking a major milestone in strengthening Japan US economic cooperation. The announcement came during Prime Minister Takaichi’s first meeting with US President Donald Trump in Tokyo, where both leaders signed a landmark framework agreement on critical minerals and rare earth supply chains.
According to the White House, the deal aims to secure and diversify global supply chains through joint mining, processing, and investment projects, ensuring access to materials crucial for defense, clean energy, and advanced technologies. The investment package reportedly includes initiatives in shipbuilding, as well as expanded imports of US soybeans, natural gas, and pickup trucks.
President Trump praised Takaichi as a “strong and visionary leader,” celebrating her as Japan’s first female Prime Minister, while Takaichi described Trump’s leadership as “steadfast in promoting global peace and stability.” She expressed hope to usher in a “new golden era” of partnership between the two nations.
Under the new framework, both countries will collaborate to build transparent, fair, and resilient markets for strategic materials vital to manufacturing industries from smartphones to fighter jets. Trump fondly mentioned late Japanese leader Shinzo Abe, noting that “Abe always spoke highly of you, and he would have been proud to see you as Prime Minister.”Later, the two leaders visited the US naval base in Yokosuka, home to the USS George Washington, reaffirming the allies’ shared commitment to security in the Indo-Pacific region.
Earlier in the day, Trump met with families of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s at Tokyo’s Akasaka Guest House. Standing beside Takaichi, Trump vowed to bring up the matter with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying, “We’ll be discussing it, and we will do everything in our power.”
Japan maintains that 17 citizens were abducted, with five returning in 2002, while North Korea insists that eight have died and the remaining four never entered its territory.
Before departing for South Korea on Wednesday (October 29), President Trump is also expected to meet with Japanese business leaders and later hold discussions with Chinese President Xi Jinping to seek a potential trade war truce between the world’s two largest economies.
