Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi spoke by phone with French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday and conveyed strong concern about European Union plans to favor European-made electric vehicles, asking for an appropriate response. Takaichi told reporters at the Prime Minister's Office after the call.
France is a leading voice in the EU's push to steer subsidies toward cars built in Europe, a direction that puts Japanese automakers' exports to the bloc at risk. Takaichi's call with Macron, one of the EU's most influential leaders on industrial policy, carried that concern to the top of the French government.
Takaichi gave no further details of the call to reporters, and the Prime Minister's Office did not say when the two leaders spoke beyond that it was on Thursday.