Abe Has a Trump Problem: How to Get Japan to Buy U.S. Cars

  • Trump decries Japan’s ‘impossible’ car market in exiting deal
  • Abe must balance trade ties with military reliance on U.S.
Photographer: Yuriko Nakao/Bloomberg
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As Japan races to preserve U.S. trade ties after President Donald Trump withdrew from a Pacific trade pact, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe faces a dilemma that has plagued Japanese leaders since the 1980s: How to convince his citizens to buy American cars?

Trump singled out Japan for failing to purchase U.S. vehicles when he formally pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement on Monday. Japan is the second-largest economy among the 12 member nations and has been one of its leading advocates.