Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is hoping to visit North Carolina as part of a six-day official visit to the United States in April, whose highlight will be a high-level meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden and a state dinner at the White House, according to the Japan Times.
During the visit, Kishida will also address a joint session of U.S Congress, becoming the first Japanese prime minister to do so since 2015.
News of Kishida’s prospective visit to North Carolina follows Toyota’s announcement last year that it will spend nearly $8 billion to expand and raise the production capacity of its North Carolina Battery Plant for its electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles. The expansion will add around 3,000 new jobs in the state.
According to the Japan Times, Kishida’s visit also aims to highlight Japan’s contribution to the U.S. economy and employment landscape. The meeting between the leaders will happen amid long-running issues involving the large trade deficit between the two countries and Biden’s expressed opposition to the $14.1 billion sale of U.S Steel to Nippon Steel.
Japanese prime ministers usually visit other cities during official visits to the United States. Then prime minister Shinzo Abe went to Boston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles in 2015; Junichiro Koizumi visited Memphis in Tennessee.
