2025 Historic Trilateral Summit
The Philippines said Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will hold a three-way conference call with outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Monday morning (January 13).
Cesar Chavez, secretary of the Philippine Presidential Communications Office, said in a statement on Sunday (January 12) that the meeting was originally scheduled for Sunday but was postponed due to the Los Angeles wildfires.
The three leaders of the United States, Japan, and the Philippines are expected to discuss the progress in cooperation, economic affairs, and recent regional and global developments.
The leaders of the United States, Japan, and the Philippines held a historic trilateral meeting in Washington last year to discuss various issues, including security cooperation, infrastructure development, and regional economic resilience. In light of the rising tensions in the South China Sea, the three countries have recently stepped up security cooperation and held a multilateral maritime cooperation event last month.
Meanwhile, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn in on January 20, and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said on Sunday that he will attend Trump’s presidential inauguration.
Iwaya said on an NHK program that he would seek talks with Marco Rubio, who has been nominated to be U.S. Secretary of State, and other members of Trump’s team to pave the way for the prime minister’s visit to the United States and formal talks between Japan and the United States.
Iwaya Takeshi also expressed his hope to meet with Trump at the most appropriate time and format but did not provide a specific timetable.
Japanese media, Kyodo News, reported that Japan rarely sends its foreign minister to attend the inauguration ceremony of the US president, who is usually represented by its ambassador to the United States.
India and Australia also announced that their foreign ministers would attend Trump’s inauguration. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Sunday that “this is an important opportunity to discuss how to build on the strengths of our strong economic and security partnership and expand cooperation.”
New developments in Nippon Steel’s acquisition: Biden administration delays implementation of executive order blocking merger
Japan is one of the United States’ most critical allies in Asia, but the recent disagreement over the acquisition of Nippon Steel has cast a shadow on US-Japan relations. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba recently said in a rare statement that Japanese industrial circles are worried about future Japan-US investment when talking about the blockage of the acquisition.
The latest development in the case is that Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel said on Saturday (January 11) that the Biden administration will delay the implementation of an executive order requiring Nippon Steel to abandon its acquisition of U.S. Steel.
“We are pleased that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has approved an extension to June 18, 2025, of the deadline set out in President Biden’s executive order requiring the parties to permanently abandon the transaction,” the two companies said in a joint statement.
Biden announced on January 3 that he would block Nippon Steel’s acquisition of U.S. Steel on the grounds of national security. Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration last week, and the extension will buy time for the court to hear the legal challenges raised by the companies. Previously, the original deadline was February 2, and the parties had only 30 days to unwind the deal.
Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel said in the lawsuit that CFIUS had long been influenced by Biden’s position and deprived them of the right to a fair review. They asked the federal appeals court to overturn Biden’s decision and give them a chance to re-examine in the hope of completing the merger.
Both Biden and Trump, who won the November election, voiced opposition to the Japanese company’s acquisition of U.S. Steel during their campaigns to win union votes.
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