In preparation for a meeting with China’s Xi Jinping to put an end to the brutal trade war between the world’s biggest economies, US President Donald Trump traveled to Japan on Monday, the second stop on his Asia tour.
Over the weekend, Beijing and Washington sent out optimistic messages about the likelihood of reaching an agreement, which contributed to Japan’s Nikkei rising beyond 50,000 points for the first time on Monday.
Before meeting with Sanae Takaichi, the country’s new prime minister, on Tuesday, Trump is anticipated to arrive in Tokyo in time for a nighttime audience with the Emperor of Japan.
The US leader said he had heard “great things about her” and hailed the fact that she was an acolyte of assassinated former premier Shinzo Abe, with whom Trump had close ties.
According to Takaichi, she informed Trump prior to the meeting that her administration’s “top priority on the diplomatic and security front” was to fortify the Japan-US partnership.
The harshest of the tariffs that Trump imposed on nations worldwide to stop what he claims are unfair trade balances that are “ripping off the United States” have not applied to Japan.
