Trump invites ‘cute’ Japanese kei trucks to come to America

This representation taken connected August 31, 2017 shows Honda Motor's caller N-BOX mini-vehicles astatine its headquaters successful Tokyo.

Tiny kei trucks from Japan person a caller fan: President Donald Trump.

Trump expressed admiration for the pint-sized autos during a briefing with reporters to denote his program to gut substance system standards. “They’re precise small. They’re truly cute,” Trump said. “And I said, however would that bash successful this country? And everyone seems to think, good, but you’re not allowed to physique them.”

Kei vehicles, which are built to fulfill Japan’s airy conveyance regulations, are enjoying surging popularity successful the automarket — including present successful the US. Sales of kei trucks tripled successful the past 5 years, with astir 7,500 full imported conscionable past year, according to information from Japan Used Motor Vehicle cited by CNN.

Comparing them to the Volkswagen Beetle, Trump said helium was authorizing the US Department of Transportation “to instantly o.k. the accumulation of those cars.”

“He gave maine the directive to wide the regulations connected this, which we have,” US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said astatine the briefing. “And truthful if Toyota oregon immoderate different institution wants to marque smaller, much affordable cars, fuel efficient, we person cleared the platform truthful they tin marque them successful America and merchantability them in America.”

A spokesperson for USDOT did not instantly respond to questions astir what circumstantial authorization Trump gave Duffy.

Indeed, the regularisation astir the legality of kei vehicles successful the US is spotty. Federal rules let for the import of mini trucks truthful agelong arsenic they are 25 years oregon older, portion authorities laws surrounding their on-road legality and registration are little clear. The vehicles would besides request to comply with the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, which dictates everything from steering instrumentality placement to conveyance weight.

That said, galore states person rules allowing low-speed vehicles similar play carts, truthful its conceivable that kei trucks could gaffe done nether those provisions.

Whether they would sell, though, is different question. Kei vehicles, abbreviated for “keitora,” meaning “light truck,” person strict guidelines astir engine, size, and powerfulness limits. And portion they surely person a pursuing successful the US, they are astir apt excessively tiny for the bulk of American buyers.

That said, they person a tiny but increasing instrumentality basal successful the US, specifically due to the fact that they correspond an antidote to the giant SUVs and trucks that predominate our roads today. On Instagram and different societal platforms, enthusiasts merchantability kei merch and station memes to tens of thousands of followers.

Of course, the intent of the briefing was to denote the rollback of strict substance ratio rules enactment successful spot by the Biden administration. Trump said the extremity was to marque cars much affordable, but astir experts foretell that immoderate savings from lower-priced vehicles volition beryllium offset by higher substance costs implicit time.