Real Fake News: Donald Trump and Where Japanese Manufacturers Choose to Build Their Cars

On Monday, President Donald Trump requested that Japanese automakers consider assembling their vehicles in the United States. “Try building your cars in the United States instead of shipping them over. That’s not too much to ask,” Trump told Japanese auto executives during this week’s visit. “Is it rude to ask?”

While the internet response was to immediately scoff at how little Trump knew about the industry (Japanese companies have been building automobiles in North America for decades), the reality was far more nuanced.

Taken in the broader context, Trump actually said, “Several Japanese automobile industry firms have been really doing a job. And we love it when you build cars — if you’re a Japanese firm, we love it — try building your cars in the United States instead of shipping them over. Is that possible to ask? That’s not rude. Is that rude? I don’t think so.”

He then went out of his way to congratulate and thank Toyota and Mazda for investing $1.6 billion in the construction of a new manufacturing plant within the United States, which is estimated to create around 4,000 jobs. Trump also said that he wanted Japanese automakers to understand that the U.S. wants their business and would get the necessary approvals to manufacture within the country, thanking them repeatedly for having “confidence in the United States.”

While painting the president as a bit of a bullish ass isn’t particularly hard to do, we don’t want automotive news misrepresented. It wasn’t a perfect meeting, as he did subtly hint that Japan could be doing more in North America. But he does seem to be aware of where the industry is spending its money and setting up shop over the last few decades. We know that because he said so.

The point of the meeting was to drum up more business in the West and earn some goodwill, and he may have actually achieved that, despite the widespread mischaracterization of how the encounter actually went. Some outlets were, thankfully, a little more objective — with The Washington Post being among the first.

Some criticism is fair, as Japan already accounts for one-third of all domestic production in the U.S. Perhaps the country is already doing enough, considering a majority of what its automakers sell in the West is also built there. But there is no indication that the president didn’t know that prior to his statements. Still, Trump has made some cringeworthy claims about German cars in the past — suggesting they were “very bad,” despite German automakers being the largest domestic exporter by value in the U.S.

However, the key to this meeting — and the cornerstone of America’s trade deficit with Japan — revolved around getting more North American autos sold out East. That’s something Japan has had major problems with in the past. “Our trade with Japan is not fair and it’s not open,” he said on Monday. “The U.S. has suffered massive trade deficits with Japan for many, many years.”

That first bit is debatable, and we’ve dug into that topic in the past. Our takeaway was that Japan simply isn’t interested in American automobiles, nor has it been since tailfins went out of style. So there’s plenty of room for improvement in the region. We don’t expect Trump’s visit to change anything but, just maybe, this could lay the groundwork for a more equitable exchange — but don’t count on it.