U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that he hoped to secure a trade deal with China to add to a series of agreements reached during his ongoing visit to Asia, as he arrived in Tokyo to a royal welcome.
On his longest overseas trip since taking office in January, Trump has already announced several trade deals with four Southeast Asian countries during his first stop in Malaysia and is due to wrap up the tour with a summit meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday.
U.S. officials said negotiators from the world’s two largest economies had finalised a framework agreement on Sunday aimed at pausing further American tariff hikes and Chinese export restrictions on rare earth minerals, news that sent Asian markets soaring to record highs.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for President Xi, and I think we’re going to come away with a deal,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One shortly before landing in Tokyo for a meeting with Emperor Naruhito.
Dressed in a blue suit and gold tie, Trump shook hands with waiting officials on the tarmac, offering a few fist pumps and waves before boarding the presidential helicopter to the Imperial Palace.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, part of the travelling delegation, told reporters that a framework for a deal with South Korea was also in place, though it would not be finalised this week.
Trump has already secured a $550 billion investment pledge from Japan in return for relief from punitive import tariffs.
Japan’s newly elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, the country’s first female premier is expected to further strengthen ties by promising to increase purchases of U.S. pickup trucks, soybeans, and natural gas when she meets Trump for talks on Tuesday.
In their first phone call on Saturday, Takaichi told Trump that reinforcing the bilateral alliance was her “top priority.” Trump, who was close friends with the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, expressed confidence in her leadership: “I think she’s going to be great.”
Thousands of police have been deployed across Tokyo for Trump’s visit, amid heightened security following the arrest of a knife-wielding man outside the U.S. embassy on Friday and planned anti-Trump protests in Shinjuku.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Japanese counterpart Ryosei Akazawa, who negotiated the tariff deal reached in July, are expected to hold a working lunch on Monday. Bessent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are also scheduled to meet Japan’s new finance minister, Satsuki Katayama.
Imperial welcome and key diplomacy ahead
Trump was the first foreign leader to meet Emperor Naruhito following his ascension to the throne in 2019, continuing a hereditary line widely regarded as the world’s oldest. Naruhito’s position is purely ceremonial, and substantive diplomacy will take place with Prime Minister Takaichi.
The two leaders will meet at Akasaka Palace, the same venue where Trump met Abe six years ago, where he will be welcomed by a military honour guard.
Alongside trade and investment discussions, Takaichi is expected to reassure Trump that Japan will step up its security commitments, having pledged to accelerate the country’s largest defence expansion since the Second World War.
Japan hosts the biggest concentration of U.S. military forces overseas, and Trump has previously criticised Tokyo for not contributing enough to its own defence as tensions rise with an increasingly assertive China.
While Takaichi has vowed to increase defence spending to 2% of GDP, she may find it difficult to commit to any further hikes sought by Trump, given her ruling coalition lacks a parliamentary majority.
Trump is scheduled to depart for Gyeongju, South Korea, on Wednesday for talks with President Lee Jae Myung, though officials say a long-discussed trade deal is unlikely to be completed during the visit.
His final stop will be Thursday’s meeting with Xi in South Korea, following months of tariff escalations and threats to restrict trade in critical minerals and technologies. Neither side expects a breakthrough that would restore pre-existing trade terms, with discussions focused instead on managing disputes and building towards modest progress before Trump’s anticipated visit to China early next year.
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