Trump’s surprise push could open US roads to Japan’s tiny Kei cars

President Donald Trump, apparently enamored by the pint-sized Kei cars he saw during his recent trip to Japan, has paved the way for them to be made and sold in the US, despite concerns that they’re too small and slow to be driven safely on American roads.

“They’re very small, they’re really cute, and I said ‘How would that do in this country?’" Trump told reporters on Wednesday at the White House, as he outlined plans to relax stringent Biden-era fuel efficiency standards.

“But we’re not allowed to make them in this country and I think you’re gonna do very well with those cars, so we’re gonna approve those cars," he said, adding that he’s authorized Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to approve production.

However, while the ultra-compact cars are highly popular in Asia, they currently don’t meet federal standards for new vehicles in the US.

A law that allows cars older than 25 years to be imported to the US, even if they don’t meet crash safety standards, has led to a cult following among American enthusiasts.

However, they’re restricted to low speeds on private land in some states, and prohibited altogether in others, the main concern being that they’re too small, slow and weak to be driving among the hulking trucks and SUVs ubiquitous on American roads.

“The reason Japanese car makers don’t make or sell kei cars in the US is business feasibility," said Bloomberg Intelligence senior auto analyst Tatsuo Yoshida. The market exists but remains niche, Yoshida said. “Pricing and costs don’t match."

Kei cars, which are tailored to narrow roads with an affordable price tag to match their size, account for about one-third of all new vehicle sales in Japan.

In response to Trump’s latest order, Duffy said his department has “cleared the deck" for Toyota Motor Corp. and other carmakers to build and sell cars in the US that are “smaller, more fuel-efficient."

A spokesperson for Toyota declined to comment.

Trump’s seeming embrace of Kei cars is the latest instance of passenger vehicles being used as a geopolitical bargaining chip between the US and Japan.

Passenger vehicles were a core issue in US-Japan trade negotiations earlier this year, but they became useful leverage after Japan lofted the idea of importing and selling American cars. While the prospect of selling US-made pickup trucks in Japan sounded outlandish, it resonated with Trump, as did the notion of reverse-importing cars made by the likes of Toyota and Honda in the US back to Japan.

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