US and Japan Advance Tariff-Linked $550B Investment Plan
The U.S. and Japan unveiled the debut projects of a $550 billion investment fund, pressing ahead with a trade and economic pact in the weeks before Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is set to meet President Donald Trump.
Trump said that the first tranche of money would go toward an Ohio gas power plant, a critical minerals site in Georgia and a liquefied natural gas facility in Texas in a Feb. 17 social media post. The announcement did not specify how the projects would be financed or which companies would be involved.
“The scale of these projects are so large, and could not be done without one very special word, TARIFFS,” Trump wrote.
The selection comes after a joint panel first met in December to consider projects, which are ultimately selected by Trump himself based on recommendations from an investment committee he established, along with input from Japanese officials.
The fund is meant to spur a wave of Japanese investment in key U.S. industries and was a central pillar of a tariff deal struck last year, where the U.S. president agreed to set levies at 15% on imports from Japan, lowering the tariff for automobiles, a critical driver for Japan’s economy.
The implementation of the trade and economic agreement is likely to be a top agenda item for a scheduled meeting between Trump and Takaichi in Washington on March 19.
