U.S. President Donald Trump meets Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba for the first time on Friday as two allies wary of China's rise work to boost business and security ties while an escalating trade war threatens to rupture the global economy.

Ishiba will also look to remind Trump — who has proposed tariffs on both friends and foes in an effort to boost American manufacturing — about the long-running U.S.-Japan alliance. Japanese companies employ nearly 1 million Americans and have held the top spot for cumulative foreign direct investment into the U.S. over the last five years.

President Donald Trump said Friday he wants to slash the U.S. trade deficit with Japan as he welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to the White House for their first face-to-face meeting. Trump added that he isn’t taking the possibility of levying tariffs against Japan off the table,