President Trump's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping was the focus of attention in Asia on Thursday.
But it's not the only regional trade news. The White House has also released some details of trade deals with Japan and South Korea — but many questions still linger.
In the not-too-distant future, Toyota autos and trucks made in America will be exported to Japan.
It remains to be seen what demand will be for vehicles built with the U.S. market in mind — with its wider roads and differing consumer preferences, not to mention that the steering wheel will be on the opposite side of the vehicle from where Japanese drivers usually find it.
That promise of increased supply is just one of the details to be found in “fact sheets” the White House has released over the last couple of days as part of its trade diplomacy.
Korean Air will be buying more than a hundred Boeing aircraft, valued at more than $36 billion, along with nearly $14 billion of GE Aerospace engines.
Corporate names are peppered throughout the fact sheets — and investment themes range from electrical and AI infrastructure to shipbuilding and energy.
JERA, Japan's largest producer of electricity, is committing to buy liquefied natural gas from a pipeline in Alaska that hasn’t even been built yet.
Money for shipbuilding includes $5 billion in the South Korean deal to modernize and further automate American shipyards.
Another $5 billion will go to increase the production capacity of the Philly Shipyard — which was acquired by the South Korean company Hanwha less than a year ago.
