Toyota, a Japanese automotive company, has announced that it will donate $1 million (approximately 1.46 billion won) to the inauguration ceremony of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, scheduled for January 20. As several companies are declaring such donations or investments in the U.S. to establish good relations with the incoming president, there has been no notable activity from domestic companies, except for a recent meeting between Shinsegae Group’s chairman, Chung Yong-jin, and the president-elect.
According to a report by Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) and Reuters on the 24th (local time), Toyota Motor’s North American subsidiary stated that, as a company conducting business in the U.S., it has decided to donate to such an important event, indicating the decision was based on the actions of other companies and reflecting recent trends. It is worth noting that the donor is the North American subsidiary, as U.S. federal law considers donations by foreigners to American presidential inauguration events to be illegal.
Previously, major U.S. corporations have continued donating to the inauguration ceremony with the aim of strengthening relations with Trump’s second-term administration. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who has had a strained relationship with Trump, and Jeff Bezos of Amazon have each decided to donate $1 million. Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, and OpenAI, through personal donations by CEO Sam Altman, are also making contributions.
According to The New York Times, donating more than $1 million grants access to various inauguration events from January 17 to 20, including dinner with the president-elect’s family and opportunities to meet key cabinet nominees.
Among automotive companies, General Motors (GM) and Ford have promised $1 million donations and plan to provide vehicles for the inauguration events. Nikkei pointed out that this decision is likely due to Trump’s previously announced ‘bombshell tariffs’ targeting Mexico and Canada. Many automotive manufacturers, including Toyota, have production bases in Mexico for the U.S. market and are concerned about the impact of new tariffs on their business.
Last month, on the 26th, President-elect Trump commented on imposing a 25% tariff on goods from Mexico and Canada, citing increased flow of people and drugs into the U.S. On the 29th, credit rating agency S&P Global reported that such tariffs, combined with a potential 20% tariff on small cars imported from Europe and the U.K., could reduce the EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) of European and American automotive companies by up to 17%.
S&P specifically analyzed that companies like General Motors, Volvo Cars, Jaguar Land Rover, and Stellantis could see more than 20% of their EBITDA affected by 2025, while Volkswagen and Toyota face a 10-20% risk. BMW and companies like Hyundai and Kia are expected to face less than 10% risk.
Meanwhile, reports suggest that donations collected for Trump’s inauguration could reach record levels. ABC News reported on the 19th that the amount donated to Trump’s inaugural committee had exceeded the target of $150 million (about 218.88 billion won) as of the 16th, projecting that funds committed to Trump’s ‘second inauguration’ could be the largest ever. This amount is nearly triple the $62 million raised for President Joe Biden’s inauguration and surpasses the $107 million raised for Trump’s first inauguration in 2017.