Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Tuesday unveiled a $550-billion investment package for the United States, signaling a major push to deepen economic ties as she and US President Donald Trump signed a framework agreement to secure supplies of critical minerals and rare earths through mining and processing cooperation, the White House confirmed.
The deal aims to diversify and secure global supply chains through joint mining, processing, and coordinated investment in strategic materials vital to defense and high-tech industries.
The investment package is expected to include projects in shipbuilding and expanded purchases of US soybeans, gas, and pickup trucks, according to officials familiar with the matter.
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The signing took place during Trump’s first meeting with Takaichi in Tokyo, where the US president hailed her as a “strong leader” and praised her rise as Japan’s first female premier. Takaichi, in turn, lauded Trump’s “unwavering commitment to world peace and stability,” vowing to usher in a “new golden age” of Japan–US relations.
Under the agreement, both countries will use economic policy tools and coordinated investments to develop diversified, transparent, and fair markets for these strategic materials, essential for products ranging from smartphones to fighter jets.
Trump, recalling former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe’s support for Takaichi, said, “He spoke so well of you long before we met, and I’m not surprised to see you as Prime Minister. He would be very happy to know that.”
Later, the two leaders visited the US naval base in Yokosuka, home to the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, underscoring the allies’ shared security commitments in the Indo-Pacific region.
Trump meets families of Japanese abductees
Earlier in the day, Trump met families of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s at Tokyo’s Akasaka Guest House.
Standing beside Prime Minister Takaichi, Trump vowed to raise the issue with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“We’ll be discussing it. We always have this in mind because it started with Shinzo Abe, and now Prime Minister Takaichi,” Trump said. “It’s my honor to be with you again, and we will do everything within our power.”
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Japan maintains that 17 citizens were abducted during that period, five of whom returned in 2002. North Korea claims eight are dead and that four others never entered the country.
Trump will meet Japanese business leaders before departing for South Korea on Wednesday (October 29), where he is expected to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in hopes of sealing a trade war truce between the world’s two largest economies.
