TOKYO: Japanese political and business leaders are questioning Donald Trump's protectionist stance after the US president-elect blasted Toyota's plan to build vehicles in Mexico, while the carmaker stressed its contribution to the US economy.
Toyota said in a statement that "production volume or employment in the US will not decrease" as a result of its new plant in Mexico, which it announced in 2015. Toyota is the largest automaker in Japan and the third biggest in the United States in terms of sales.
"Toyota looks forward to collaborating with the Trump Administration to serve in the best interests of consumers and the automotive industry," the statement said.
The Japanese carmaker appears to be taking a firmer stand than its US rivals Ford and General Motors, both of which have scrambled to adust their production plans after feeling the heat from a Trump tweet.
The billionaire property developer and reality-TV star threatened on Thursday in a Twitter message to impose heavy taxes on Toyota if the automaker goes ahead with its plan to produce Corolla cars in Mexico for sale in the United States.
The tweet came after Toyota president Akio Toyoda said in Tokyo that the automaker had no immediate plans to reconsider its envisaged production in Mexico.
Toyota sold 2.44 million cars in the United States last year, making it the third largest in the market after General Motors and Ford.
"I wonder if the president-elect knows the amount of cars Toyota produces in the United States," Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso told a news conference on Friday.
Other Japanese business leaders voiced hope for an open business environment under the incoming Trump administration.
"I request world leaders to guarantee a free flow of people, products, money and information," Sony Corp president Kazuo Hirai said in Las Vegas where he was attending the Consumer Electronics Show.
Sony exports DVDs produced in a plant in Mexico to the United States.
"It is important how we react to the more specific plans he will have when he becomes president," he said.
Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn said he would pay close attention to Trump's trade policy.
"We all want to be watching carefully ... what's going to be the new policy, what's going to be the rules, particularly North American [trade] rules," Ghosn told reporters in Las Vegas.
Trump has said he will focus on putting "America first" by pressing companies to keep jobs and production in the United States, vowing to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta), a deal concluded by the United States, Canada and Mexico two decades ago.
Ghosn indicated patience is needed ahead of Trump's inauguration on Jan 20. "Nothing [has] happened so far," he said, while adding that he was "fine" with the president-elect's "America first" stance to create new jobs.
Nissan, Japan's second-largest automaker, has major export bases in Mexico. It launched its Mexican production in the 1960s followed by Honda in 1995 and Mazda in 2014.
Yoshimitsu Kobayashi, head of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives, pointed out that the US president-elect signalling protectionism could be part of his strategy. "We don't have to fully accept it, but it does raise concern," he said.
Kobayashi added that Toyota did not have to follow Ford, which cancelled plans this week to build a new factory in Mexico, but warned that it would be "risky" for Japanese firms to consider launching new operations there.
Hiroshige Seko, the minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, said the government would support the Japanese car industry despite Trump's threat. The Japanese car industry has already established a local production system in the United States, he added.
"I don't think there are plans to move US production bases overseas, including to Mexico," said the trade minister.
But with Trump indicating that Washington could slap a 35% tariff on imports from Mexico, an executive at one major Japanese carmaker said that an extreme rise in tariffs, if it happens, "could lead to a possible reviewing of our production [in Mexico]."
Honda president Takahiro Hachigo told reporters that the company planned to stay in Mexico hopefully "for the continuation of the Nafta deal".
Mazda CEO Masamichi Kogai also said earlier in the week that the automaker's Mexican plant would remain a core manufacturing base.