Kishida Touts Japan’s Investments in US With Visit to Swing-State Toyota Plant
- Japan PM offers election-year boost to Biden in North Carolina
- Biden has struggled to sell voters on his handling of economy
Fumio Kishida tours the new Toyota battery factory in Liberty, North Carolina on April 12.
Photographer: Logan Cyrus/AFP/Getty ImagesJapanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida sought to highlight his country’s investments in the US with a visit to a Toyota Motor Corp. plant in North Carolina, a crucial battleground state in the 2024 contest between President Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
Kishida on Friday visited the Greensboro plant campus where Toyota last year injected an additional $8 billion to make batteries for electric vehicles — a move bringing the carmaker’s total investment in North Carolina to about $14 billion. He also dropped by a Honda Aircraft Co. factory in the state. The stops follow a summit in Washington with Biden, where strengthening economic and defense ties topped the agenda.