U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Tuesday signed two agreements– one outlining a “golden age” of U.S.-Japan relations and the other to cooperate on rare earths production.
Trump met Takaichi in Tokyo as part of an Asian tour, and praised Japan as a great U.S. ally. The meeting also comes just a week after Takaichi was elected as Japan’s first female prime minister.
The exact details of Tuesday’s deals were not immediately clear. But the rare earths deal comes amid increasing U.S. attempts to offset China’s dominance in the sector, especially after Beijing introduced more export curbs on the sector this month.
Japan is seen as being abundant in rare earths, but the extraction and processing has proven difficult due to a bulk of supplies being underwater.
