(Oct 28): Japan and the US unveiled a list of potential projects for their US$550 billion US investment vehicle, providing a first look into what specific proposals could be funded by the mechanism that’s a key part of the two countries’ trade deal.
At a signing ceremony Tuesday in Tokyo, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick outlined many of the highest-profile commitments. The corporate names included SoftBank Group, Westinghouse and Toshiba Corp, and the size of the potential projects ranged from US$350 million to as much as US$100 billion.
A fact sheet released by Japan’s trade ministry Tuesday detailed other Japanese companies interested in launching projects in areas ranging from energy and AI to critical minerals.
“You’re at the beginning. You are it. You are the foundation. And this is really, really exciting,” Lutnick said at the event.
The announcements were intended to flesh out a framework trade agreement reached earlier this year, where Trump lowered and capped tariffs on Japanese goods in exchange for a pledge for Japan to fund US$550 billion in US projects.
| Company | Category | Project | Scale of business |
| Westinghouse | Energy | Construction of AP1000 nuclear reactors and smaller modular reactors. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Toshiba Group, IHI may be involved. | Up to US$100 billion |
| GE Vernova/Hitachi | Energy | Construction of SMRs. | Up to US$100 billion |
| Bechtel | Energy | Large-scale power and industrial infrastructure, including power plants, substations, and transmission systems. | Up to US$25 billion |
| SoftBank Group | Energy | Building of large-scale power infrastructure. | Up to US$25 billion |
| NuScale/ENTRA1 Energy | Power Development for AI | Considering power generation (gas-thermal, nuclear) for AI. | |
| Toshiba | Strengthening AI infrastructure | Supply of electrical power modules, data center transformers, and other power-generation substations such as transformers. | |
| Carbon Holdings | Critical Minerals etc | Construction of a greenfield ammonia and urea fertiliser facility. | Up to US$3 billion |
See also: Trump enlists Japan in drive to secure critical minerals supply
One of the documents said Trump and newly installed Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi “confirmed their strong commitment to implementing this GREAT DEAL” — both an acknowledgment the pact is proceeding under the new prime minister and that it’s still being hashed out.
Trump has previously cast the US$550 billion as money that his administration could “invest as we like,” with 90% of the profits being given to the US. Japan has described the pledge as a combination of investments, loans and loan guarantees, characterising it as a way to back up Japanese firms’ US projects.
“Japan will continue to strive for the sincere and prompt implementation of the agreement with the US,” said Japan’s new trade minister, Ryosei Akazawa. “Through this, we intend to promote the mutual interests of Japan and the US, expand cooperation aimed at ensuring economic security, and foster Japan’s economic growth.”
See also: China analysts expect US to ease export curbs for magnet relief
Trump earlier in the day said, “I want to thank Japan because they’re making big investments into the United States,” speaking aboard the USS George Washington in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo. “They’re a big investor into our country and we like that,” he said, adding that Takaichi told him Toyota Motor Corp would put plants all over the US “to the tune of over US$10 billion.”
‘Launch phase’
Toyota wasn’t mentioned in the trade ministry’s fact sheet, and it wasn’t clear what he was referring to or whether that project could tap into funding from the joint programme.
In an interview, Lutnick said the pledges — which total up to nearly US$490 billion — are in a “launch phase,” with preliminary work on projects that would then be considered for funding from the US$550 billion programme.
“They’ll do the precision work, and it’ll go through the process with the Japanese consultation committee, the investment committee, and the president will give it the green light, and then they’ll start to put shovels in the ground,” he said. “I would expect that to take months, but not more than months.”
Energy-related projects appeared to loom large in the list in terms of total scale of business. Westinghouse’s construction of AP1000 nuclear reactors and small modular reactors was expected to be worth up to US$100 billion, involving Japanese suppliers and operators including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Another small modular reactors project that could involve GE Vernova / Hitachi was framed as also being worth up to US$100 billion.
“These are great companies, many of them household names — that you would expect — that are going to build infrastructure and improve the national economic security of the United States,” Lutnick said, adding that other projects can be considered.
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“We look forward to engaging with other companies that wish to provide that same sort of foundational position. We’re going to be examining shipbuilding, pipelines, there’ll be an enormous number of other critical minerals. There are a whole variety.”
The US will be making the final decision on which projects will make the cut into the investment fund, though Japan is also expected to have some say. Trump retains the option to reinstate higher tariffs if Japan fails to fund his picks of investment projects.
“These companies were discussed and fully vetted with the Japanese,” Lutnick said. “This is not outside of their purview,” he said. “This is just the process of doing the work.”
The fund aims to advance economic and national security interests by investing in semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, metals, critical minerals, shipbuilding, energy, artificial intelligence and quantum computing, according to a memorandum of understanding between the two countries.
The fund was a key element behind the July trade deal that lowered US duties from 27.5% to 15% on Japanese cars. The US also set levies on many other goods at the same level.
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