With their "Japanese First" slogan, riffing off US President Donald Trump's "America First", they have truly ruffled the feathers of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its embattled prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba.

President Donald Trump is bragging that Japan has given him, as part of a new trade framework, $550 billion to invest in the United States

The Japanese government, not companies, is poised to back U.S. infrastructure projects of the president’s choosing.

When President Donald Trump revealed that his administration had struck a "massive" trade and investment deal with Japan, he described it as "completed"—but it must still pass the Japanese parliament, called the Diet, which is riven with political turmoil.

Sohei Kamiya's Sanseitō Party won 14 seats in Japan's Upper House elections, appealing to young voters with a "Japanese first" platform focused on culture, birth rates and food security.

Tesla vehicles are lined up at a vehicle storage yard at an industrial port, on the day U.S. President Donald Trump struck a trade deal with Japan that lowers tariffs on auto imports, in Yokohama, near Tokyo, Japan, July 23, 2025. Japanese automakers breathed a sigh of relief after U.S. President Donald Trump finalized a trade agreement last week.

Over the past few decades, Japan-based automaker Toyota has spent billions of dollars to expand its manufacturing and assembly plants in the United States. Those plants now employ over 64,000 people across North America and have churned out millions of vehicles.

U.S. President Donald Trump struck a trade deal with Japan that lowers tariffs on auto imports and spares Tokyo from punishing new levies on other goods in exchange for a $550 billion package of U.S.-bound investment and loans.

The 15% tariff would be lower than previously threatened, but it would remain a high duty on America’s largest trading partner.