Trump, Takaichi Seek New Trade, Security Opportunities to Counter China

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at U.S. efforts to diversify trade in Asia, Argentina’s surprise midterm election results, and Jamaica bracing for a Category 5 hurricane.

A Budding Friendship

This week is all about trade policy for U.S. President Donald Trump. After a whirlwind weekend at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Malaysia, Trump continued his five-day regional tour on Monday with a stop in Japan. There, he is expected to discuss potential avenues to improve bilateral trade relations and seek a fresh ally in Japan’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi.

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at U.S. efforts to diversify trade in Asia, Argentina’s surprise midterm election results, and Jamaica bracing for a Category 5 hurricane.

A Budding Friendship

This week is all about trade policy for U.S. President Donald Trump. After a whirlwind weekend at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Malaysia, Trump continued his five-day regional tour on Monday with a stop in Japan. There, he is expected to discuss potential avenues to improve bilateral trade relations and seek a fresh ally in Japan’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi.

Tokyo is similarly invested in cultivating a better relationship with the United States. Ahead of Trump’s meeting with Takaichi, scheduled for Tuesday, the ultraconservative Japanese premier told Trump over the phone that strengthening their countries’ alliance is her “top priority.” To emphasize that point, Trump was granted an audience with Emperor Naruhito on Monday.

The United States and Japan secured a trade deal in July that lowered U.S. tariffs on Japanese goods to 15 percent in exchange for Tokyo promising to invest $550 billion in the United States. Trump and Takaichi are looking to explore ways that Tokyo can fulfill that pledge, such as by purchasing soybeans, gas, and U.S. pickup trucks as well as through increased cooperation in shipbuilding. Reuters reported on Monday that U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Japanese counterpart Ryosei Akazawa have also discussed power grids as a potential investment area.

But Takaichi also wants Tokyo to have more say over those decisions and for the investments to favor Japanese companies and contractors. To win Trump over, experts suggest that she may leverage her close relationship with former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whom Trump also shared a close bond with. And she may use her pledge to drastically increase Japan’s defense spending as evidence that Tokyo wants to do more to assist the United States against an increasingly assertive China.

Diversifying supply chains amid tighter Chinese controls on rare earths is a primary objective of Trump’s Asia trip. While in Malaysia this weekend, Trump secured trade and critical minerals deals with four Southeast Asian nations. Cambodia, Malaysia, and Thailand all agreed to a 19 percent U.S. tariff, with duties on some goods being reduced to zero, and Vietnam agreed to a 20 percent tariff and vowed to bolster its purchases of U.S. products.

During the ASEAN summit, Trump also met with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who expressed optimism that their two countries will strike a trade deal soon. Trump “guaranteed to me that we will reach an agreement,” Lula said on Monday. Trump made similar positive comments, telling reporters on board Air Force One en route to Tokyo that he and Lula “had a great meeting.” Trump added, “We’ll see what happens. They’d like to do a deal.”

On Wednesday, Trump is scheduled to fly to South Korea to meet with President Lee Jae-myung, who is facing greater pressure from Washington to choose a side in U.S.-China competition.

All this comes ahead of Trump’s sidelines meeting on Thursday with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Hopes are high that a week of trade successes will carry over into that meeting.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for President Xi, and I think we’re going to come away with a deal,” Trump said. But with Chinese export controls still high and the United States appearing unwilling to drop its sweeping tariffs, experts maintain that several concessions must be made for any progress to occur.

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The World This Week

Tuesday, Oct. 28: Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa visits Saudi Arabia.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations concludes its three-day leaders’ summit in Malaysia.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen concludes a two-day trip to Sweden.

Wednesday, Oct. 29: The two-day ministerial meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit begins in South Korea.

Tanzania holds a general election.

The Netherlands holds an early parliamentary election.

A 90-day pause on tariff increases between the United States and Mexico expires.

Vietnamese leader To Lam begins a two-day trip to the United Kingdom.

French President Emmanuel Macron hosts the two-day Paris Peace Forum.

Thursday, Oct. 30: Trump meets with Xi.

Peru concludes hosting the 63rd session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosts German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Ankara.

G-7 energy and environment ministers convene for a two-day meeting in Toronto.

What We’re Following

Surprise win for Milei. The party of Argentine President Javier Milei won a decisive victory in Sunday’s midterm election, granting him the mandate to continue pursuing his far-right agenda, including a dramatic overhaul of the country’s flailing economy. Official results showed Milei’s Liberty Advances party winning 41.5 percent of the vote in Buenos Aires province compared with 40.8 percent for the Peronist coalition. “Argentines showed that they don’t want to return to the model of failure,” Milei said.

Early polling had predicted a major loss for Milei due to criticism of his economic policies. Milei has long sought extensive austerity measures and controversial subsidy cuts to help reduce inflation, and last week, he signed a bailout deal with Trump worth up to $40 billion. That comes on top of a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) earlier this year; Argentina is the IMF’s biggest borrower.

Although Milei has successfully brought inflation down to a still-whopping 20 percent, much of his shock therapy has resulted in high unemployment rates, a devalued peso, and an overall less competitive market on the global stage. But investors appear to be optimistic regarding the midterm results, with Argentina’s local benchmark stock index surging 20 percent.

Category 5 storm. Hurricane Melissa intensified into a Category 5 storm on Monday as it cruised through the Caribbean en route to Jamaica, where it is expected to be the country’s worst hurricane in recorded history. Melissa will make landfall on Tuesday before hitting Cuba and the Bahamas. Already, the slow-moving storm has killed at least six people, having devastated parts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Jamaica has ordered mandatory evacuations for seven flood-prone communities ahead of likely catastrophic flash floods and landslides. Meteorologists predict that Jamaica could record up to 40 inches of rain, storm surges upward of 13 feet, and winds reaching 165 miles per hour. “Don’t make foolish decisions,” Jamaican Transport Minister Daryl Vaz said. “We are in a very, very serious time over the next few days.”

Forecasters are also warning of an “extremely urgent humanitarian crisis” to follow. “The devastation from the electricity infrastructure alone may take months to repair,” AccuWeather’s chief meteorologist, Jon Porter, said. “Food refrigeration and safe drinking water may not be available for an extended period.”

Cruise missile development. Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed on Sunday that Moscow has tested a new nuclear-capable and nuclear-powered cruise missile that has been in production for years. Although the Kremlin didn’t specify which type of missile was tested, Western experts believe it was the Burevestnik.

Little is known about the Burevestnik besides Putin claiming in 2018 that it will have an unlimited range, allowing it to circumnavigate the globe undetected by U.S. missile defense systems. But some Western experts are skeptical of its capabilities, arguing that a nuclear engine could be highly unreliable.

Still, Putin remains adamant that the new missile will soon be deployed to the Russian military. The test comes as Moscow has resisted calls for a cease-fire with Kyiv and cautioned Western powers against supplying long-range weapons to Ukraine and imposing oil and gas sanctions on Russia.

Odds and Ends

Congratulations are in order for Albania’s newest cabinet minister, the artificial intelligence-powered bot Diella. In an unusual public address at last week’s Berlin Global Dialogue conference, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama announced that Diella is “pregnant” and set to “give birth” to 83 digital offspring. These so-called “children” will serve as virtual assistants to lawmakers from Rama’s Socialist Party, maintaining parliamentary records, suggesting policy, and aiding in data-based decision-making. FP’s World Brief writer is seeking suggestions on what an acceptable baby shower gift is for a nonhuman cabinet member.