A Toyota division that manufactures trucks will pay more than $1.6 billion and plead guilty to violations related to the submission of false and fraudulent engine emission testing and fuel consumption data to regulators and the illicit smuggling of engines into the United States.
Hino Motors, a subsidiary of the Toyota, first acknowledged in 2022 that it has systematically falsified emissions data dating back as far as 2003.
That was part of a broader scandal involving emissions tests that ensnared other automakers as well.
The Justice Department said that Hino's unlawful conduct allowed it to improperly secure approvals to import and sell, and cause to be imported and sold, more than 110,000 diesel engines in the U.S. from 2010 to 2022. The engines were primarily installed in heavy-duty trucks made and sold by Hino nationwide.
“Hino knew the requirements that engines must meet to be certified to operate in the United States, yet it falsified data for years to skirt regulations,” Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, said in a prepared statement. “Hino’s actions led to vast amounts of excess air pollution and were an egregious violation of our nation’s environmental, consumer protection and import laws."
Hino Motors Ltd. has agreed to plead guilty to engaging in a multi-year criminal conspiracy. The plea agreement, which is subject to court approval, requires the company to pay a criminal fine of $521.76 million, serve a five-year term of probation — during which it will be prohibited from importing any diesel engines it has made into the U.S. — and implement a comprehensive compliance and ethics program and reporting structure.
Hino has also agreed to a forfeiture money judgment against it in the amount of approximately $1.1 billion. As part of the plea deal, Hino’s future payments towards its civil settlement obligations, as well future payments as part of a civil class action settlement brought by private plaintiffs, will be credited towards its criminal forfeiture money judgment obligation.
The Justice Department, Environmental Protection Agency, FBI, Customs and Border Protection, Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and State of California reached criminal and multiple civil resolutions with Japanese Hino, which are subject to approval by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
In separate civil resolutions of environmental, customs and fuel economy claims by the federal government and the State of California, Hino will pay a civil penalty of $525 million.
Hino, as part of its plea agreement, admitted to submitting and causing to be submitted false applications for engine certification approvals between 2010 and 2019. The company also admitted that it submitted fraudulent carbon dioxide emissions test data.
Hino said in a statement on Thursday that its agreements resolve all of the company’s outstanding legal issues in the U.S. related to its legacy emissions issues.
"We deeply apologize for the inconvenience caused to our customers and stakeholders. In order to prevent a recurrence of this kind of issue, we have implemented company-wide reforms, including meaningful improvements to our internal culture, oversight, and compliance practices,” CEO Satoshi Ogiso said.
FILE - In this Aug. 2, 2019, file, photo, people walk by the logo of Toyota at a show room in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
President Donald Trump President Donald Trump wraps up a Mideast tour in the United Arab Emirates with a breakfast for business leaders and a visit to an interfaith place of worship named for the Abraham Accords he negotiated.
As part of the accords, the UAE and some other countries in the Middle East recognized Israel. Trump departs Abu Dhabi after his visit to the Abrahamic Family House .
During his visit to the region, violence flared in the West Bank, and Gaza. Israeli strikes killed at least 20 people Friday, adding to the more than 120 people who died in recent days.
Here's the latest:
“I think it’s time for us to just do it,” Trump told reporters in Abu Dhabi.
Trump reiterated that he wasn’t surprised that Putin skipped a U.S. orchestrated meeting in Turkey between Ukrainian and Russian officials. Putin didn’t want to go because he’s not there, Trump said.
Trump added that a meeting with Putin would happen “as soon as we can set it up.”
“ I would actually leave here and go,” said Trump, who noted his daughter Tiffany just gave birth to her first child. “I do want to see my beautiful grandson.”
Trump says he’s had an “incredible” trip to the Middle East but that “now it’s time to go back home.” He added: “My daughter had a baby and I’m going to go home and see that baby.”
Tiffany Trump gave birth to boy.
“She’s doing great and the baby’s great.”
An Israeli official said Cabinet members are meeting Friday to assess the negotiations in Qatar and to decide on next steps. The official was not authorized to brief media on the meeting and so spoke on condition of anonymity.
At an event to highlight business partnerships between the UAE and US companies, Trump gave himself a big pat on the back.
“I’m just thinking we have a president of the United States doing the selling,” Trump said to business leaders as they walked him through a presentation on investments that are benefitting the American economy. “You think Biden would be doing it? I don’t think so. But I think its so important. I have to be a cheerleader for our country.”
President Donald Trump has arrived at a business forum being held at Qasr al-Watan, a ceremonial palace in Abu Dhabi.
Trump entered and listened to a presentation from Sultan al-Jaber, the head of the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., as well as officials from Exxon Mobil Corp. and Occidental, two oil firms.
Al-Jaber then presented Trump a memento that included a drop of oil in it.
“This is the highest quality oil there is on the planet,” Trump told those watching.
He then drew laughter when he said: “And they only gave me a drop -- so I’m not thrilled.”
Hostage families called on their government Friday to work with President Trump to release those still held in Gaza.
A statement from the hostages forum, which supports the families said people woke up with “heavy hearts” amid reports of increased attacks across Gaza at the end of Trump’s visit to the Middle East. There were widespread attacks in northern Gaza Friday as Trump was finishing his visit to Gulf States but not Israel.
Israel says about 23 of the hostages are said to be alive.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed earlier in the week to push ahead with a promised escalation of force in Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip to pursue his aim of destroying the Hamas militant group, which governs Gaza.
The hostage families called on Netanyahu to “join hands” with Trump’s efforts to release the hostages.
“Missing this historic opportunity for a deal to bring the hostages home would be a resounding failure that will be remembered in infamy forever.
Trump is wrapping up his four-day visit to the Middle East, but he’s keeping a close eye on what’s going on back in Washington.
Before heading out Friday morning to the Qasr Al Watan presidential for the final engagements of his trip, the president took to his Truth Social platform to hammer “Radical Left Sleazebags” after Supreme Court justices on Thursday heard more than two hours of arguments debating how the lower courts should handle Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship.
“I hope the Supreme Court doesn’t fall for the games they play,” Trump added. “The people are with us in bigger numbers than ever before.”
President Donald Trump is kicking off the final day of his Middle East trip with a meeting of U.S. and UAE business executives alongside UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Energy, health care, aviation, entertainment and other business leaders will be in attendance to highlight ties between the two countries -- a central focus of Trump’s trip to the region. Trump will then tour the Abrahamic Family House, a complex that houses a church, mosque and synagogue and is a symbol of interfaith tolerance. Trump has encouraged other countries in the region to join the Abraham Accords and recognize Israel, as the UAE did in 2020. The president will then depart back to Washington.
Israeli strikes killed at least 20 people in Gaza on Friday morning, as U.S. President Donald Trump wraps up his Middle East visit.
An Associated Press journalist counted the bodies at the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, where they were brought. Survivors said many people were still under the rubble.
The widespread attacks across northern Gaza come as Trump finishes his visit to Gulf states but not Israel.
There had been widespread hope that Trump’s regional visit could usher in a ceasefire deal or renewal of humanitarian aid to Gaza. An Israeli blockade of the territory is now in its third month.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the strikes.
President Donald Trump will make several stops before taking off on Air Force One to end his Mideast trip on Friday.
He’ll attend a business summit in the morning in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
Trump later will visit the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi. It is home to a mosque, a church and a synagogue. The UAE built it after diplomatically recognizing Israel in an agreement known as the Abraham Accords, as Christianity, Islam and Judaism are all known as the Abrahamic faiths.
Etihad Airways announced Friday it would purchase 28 wide-body Boeing aircraft during a visit by President Donald Trump to the United Arab Emirates.
Etihad is the government-owned airline of Abu Dhabi that also flies East-West routes like Emirates, the long-haul carrier in neighboring Dubai.
Etihad said in a statement that the sale included “a mix of Boeing 787 and 777X aircraft, powered by GE engines and supported by a services package.”
Boeing did not immediately acknowledge the deal.
Trump was due to address a business conference in Abu Dhabi on Friday, the last day of his Mideast trip that’s also taken him to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which booked a major Boeing order for its long-haul carrier, Qatar Airways.
Tia Goldenberg contributed from Tel Aviv
President Donald Trump and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan talk at Qasr Al Watan, Thursday, May 15, 2025, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan arrive at Qasr Al Watan, Thursday, May 15, 2025, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump and Sheikh Khaled Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, right, tour the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Thursday, May 15, 2025, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
