Trump targets China trade deal as he arrives in Tokyo on Asia tour

Trevor Hunnicutt, John Geddie and Tim Kelly

TOKYO (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he hoped to add a trade deal with China to the raft of agreements he has already struck during a visit to Asia this week as he arrived in Tokyo for a royal reception.

Trump, on his longest trip abroad since taking office in January, announced deals with four Southeast Asian countries during his first stop in Malaysia and will end his trip with a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday.

Representatives of the world's two largest economies on Sunday discussed the framework of an agreement to suspend higher U.S. tariffs and controls on rare earth metals exports from China, U.S. officials said. The news sent Asian stocks to record highs.

“I have great respect for President Xi Jinping and I think we will get a deal done,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One shortly before he touched down in the Japanese capital ahead of a meeting with Emperor Naruhito.

Wearing a gold tie and blue suit, Trump shook hands with officials waiting for him on the tarmac and pumped his fist several times before boarding the presidential helicopter for a meeting at the Imperial Palace.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who was part of the visiting delegation, told reporters that the general framework of the agreement with South Korea had also been set but would not be finalized this week.

Trump has already received an investment promise of $550 billion from Tokyo in exchange for a reprieve from imposing import tariffs.

Newly elected Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hopes to further impress Trump with promises to buy American pickup trucks, soybeans and gasoline at a summit on Tuesday.

Takaichi, who last week became Japan's first female prime minister, told Trump in their first phone call on Saturday that strengthening their countries' alliance was her “top priority.”

Trump said he was looking forward to meeting Takaichi, a close ally of his late friend and golf partner, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, adding: “I think she'll be great.”

Thousands of police are guarding Japan's capital in anticipation of Trump's arrival as tensions rise following Friday's arrest of a knife-wielding man outside the US embassy and plans for an anti-Trump protest in central Shinjuku.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Japanese counterpart Ryosei Akazawa, authors of the tariff agreement agreed in July, are set to hold a working lunch on Monday.

Bessent, who is traveling with Trump along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is expected to meet his new colleague Satsuki Katayama for the first time.

IMPERIAL GREETINGS ON THE RETURN OF TRUMP

Trump was the first foreign leader to meet Naruhito since he ascended the throne in 2019, continuing an imperial lineage that some say is the world's oldest hereditary monarchy.

Naruhito's role is purely symbolic, however, and a key diplomatic meeting will take place with Takaichi on Tuesday.

They are set to meet at nearby Akasaka Palace, where Trump met with Abe six years ago, and will be greeted by a military guard of honor.

Beyond the investment pledges, Takaichi is expected to reassure Trump that Tokyo is willing to do more on security after telling lawmakers on Friday it plans to speed up Japan's biggest defense buildup since World War II.

Japan has the largest concentration of U.S. military power overseas, and Trump has previously complained that it is not spending enough to defend its islands from an increasingly assertive China.

Although Takaichi has said she will accelerate plans to increase defense spending to 2% of GDP, she may have difficulty getting Japan to commit to the further increases sought by Trump because its ruling coalition does not have a majority in parliament.

Trump is due to travel to Gyeongju in South Korea on Wednesday, where he will first hold talks with President Lee Jae-myung.

The meeting with Xi Jinping will take place on Thursday after Washington and Beijing raised tariffs on each other's exports and threatened to halt trade in critical minerals and technologies.

Neither side expects a breakthrough that would restore the terms of trade that existed before Trump returned to power.

Negotiations between the two sides to prepare for the meeting have focused on resolving differences and making modest improvements ahead of Trump's visit to China expected early next year.

(Reporting by Tim Kelly and John Geddie in Tokyo and Trevor Hunnicut in Kuala Lumpur; Additional reporting by Antoni Slodkowski and Laurie Chen in Beijing and Jihoon Lee and Ju Min Park in Seoul; Editing by Lincoln Fast and Clarence Fernandez)