President Donald Trump said Friday he wants to slash the U.S. trade deficit with Japan as he welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to the White House for their first face-to-face meeting. Trump added that he isn't taking the possibility of levying tariffs against Japan off the table, but believes that the issue can be resolved without taking punitive action. The United States has a $68 billion trade deficit with Japan. "I think it will be very easy for Japan," Trump said at start of his Oval Office meeting with Ishiba.

"We have a fantastic relationship. I don't think we'll have any problem. They want fairness also." Trump announced that Japan's Nippon Steel's was dropping its $14.1 billion acquisition of the Pittsburgh-headquartered U.S. Steel and would instead be making an "investment, rather than a purchase." Trump said he would "mediate and arbitrate" as the companies negotiate the investment. The U.S. president mistakenly referred to Nippon Steel as "Nissan," the Japanese automaker. President Joe Biden before leaving office last month blocked the purchase, citing national security concerns. Trump in December said he was "totally against the once great and powerful U.S. Steel being bought by a foreign company."