Toyota to invest $10bn in US expansion

Japanese automaker Toyota has confirmed plans to invest $10 billion in the United States over the next five years, solidifying earlier remarks made by former President Donald Trump during his visit to Asia.

Trump had previously stated that Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda informed him about the investment plan, saying the company would “build new car plants in numerous states.” Toyota initially downplayed those claims, but on Thursday officially announced the “additional investment,” which will raise its total U.S. investment to nearly $60 billion since it began operations there nearly seven decades ago.

The announcement coincided with the opening of Toyota’s first U.S. facility dedicated to producing lithium-ion batteries for electric and hybrid vehicles. Located in North Carolina, the plant represents a $14 billion investment and is expected to create up to 5,100 new jobs. It also marks Toyota’s eleventh manufacturing site in the United States.

The move comes after Tokyo agreed in July to channel $550 billion into the U.S. economy, part of a broader trade understanding that saw Washington lower tariffs on Japanese vehicles to 15 percent from a threatened 25 percent. Japanese carmakers, including Toyota, have faced U.S. pressure to export more vehicles made in their American plants back to Japan—a proposal Toyota says it is open to if technical standards between the two nations are aligned.

Toyota currently imports about half of the vehicles it sells in the U.S., sourcing most from Canada and Mexico and around 281,000 from Japan. Despite ongoing tariff pressures, the company recently raised its operating income and profit forecasts for the fiscal year.

At midday Thursday, Toyota shares slipped slightly by 0.1 percent to 3,187 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.