Japan sweetens U.S. ties as Takaichi delivers first wave of $550 billion investment deal
Japan has launched the first tranche of investments under its $550 billion trade pact with the United States, with President Donald Trump hailing the move as proof that a “massive” deal with Tokyo is now delivering concrete projects on the ground.
“Our MASSIVE Trade Deal with Japan has just launched,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, saying Japan was “officially, and financially, moving forward” with the first set of investments under its commitment.
Trump said the projects would “revitalise the industrial base”, create “hundreds of thousands of great American jobs”, and strengthen the U.S. national and economic security “like never before.”
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, three major energy and industrial projects have been confirmed as part of the opening wave of investment.
Where Japan’s money will go
The largest is a $33 billion natural gas power facility near Portsmouth, Ohio. With a planned capacity of 9.2 gigawatts, the Portsmouth Powered Land project would rank among the biggest gas-fired generation developments in the world.
The plant will be operated by SB Energy, a subsidiary of Japan’s SoftBank. The project is designed to provide large-scale, dispatchable electricity to support industrial expansion and grid reliability.
Trump highlighted the Ohio development in his post, describing it as the largest gas power plant “in history” and crediting tariffs as central to unlocking projects of such scale.
In Texas, a separate $2.1 billion deepwater crude oil export terminal is planned in Brazoria County and the Gulf of America. The Texas GulfLink facility will be operated by Sentinel Midstream.
At full capacity, the terminal is expected to generate between $20 billion and $30 billion in annual US crude exports, potentially totalling $400 billion to $600 billion over 20 years, the Commerce Department said.
The third investment is an approximately $600 million high-pressure, high-temperature synthetic diamond grit facility in Georgia, to be operated by Element Six.
Diamond grit and powder are essential in semiconductor, automotive and oil and gas manufacturing, valued for their extreme hardness and durability. US officials say boosting domestic supply is strategically important for advanced manufacturing and national security.
Together, the projects signal Japan’s financial commitment to anchoring capital in key American energy and industrial sectors, as Washington and Tokyo — and Takaichi and Trump — deepen ties.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
