Chairman Kobayashi’s Comments on the US Presidential Election

November 9, 2020

Allow me to first congratulate Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on becoming the projected winners of the election.

The alliance between the US and Japan contributes to the peace, stability, and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region and the entire world, and I expect it will be made stronger under the incoming Biden administration.

I look forward to the US moving away from the “America First” policy, strengthening its alliances with other countries, and getting back on the track of international cooperation. President-elect Biden has suggested that the US may return to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) after renegotiating it. The TPP plays an important role not only in economic prosperity, but also in the peace and stability of the Asia-Pacific region, so I hope the US returns.

I also hope that the US will rejoin the Paris Agreement and invest heavily in clean energy, as President-elect Biden has pledged. If this comes to fruition, it will dramatically accelerate the global trend of carbon emissions reduction and decarbonization. And I believe the Shosha industry will need to roll out businesses in response to that trend.