US President Donald Trump says America's trade deficit with Japan is too big and that he has asked the country to further increase its production in the US.

Trump spoke at a meeting at the White House on Wednesday where he was discussing employment problems with business leaders.

Trump said, "We have a lot of companies coming in. I was with Prime Minister Abe the other day and he said that Japan is going to be sending about at least 7 more big factories into this country."
Trump did not explain the plan in detail. But he reiterated his demand that Japan bring additional production to the US.

US data released on Wednesday show that the country's trade deficit in goods with Japan totaled 67.6 billion dollars in 2018. That's a slight decrease from the previous year.

The Trump administration hopes to start bilateral trade talks with Japan as soon as possible. 

The US apparently wants to reduce imports of automobiles and other goods from Japan to reduce the deficit.

NHK