Japan has announced its intention to invest up to $36 billion in large-scale projects for the extraction of oil, gas, and critical minerals in the United States. This is the first part of a total investment package amounting to $550 billion under a new trade agreement between Japan and the USA, signed with President Donald Trump.
This is reported by Finway
Main Areas of Japan’s Investments in the USA
A key focus of this investment program will be a gas complex in Ohio, where 9.2 gigawatts of electricity is planned to be produced. The project will be implemented by SB Energy, a subsidiary of the Japanese giant SoftBank Group Corp. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Japanese investments in this project will amount to up to $33 billion. Toshiba Corp. and Hitachi Ltd. are also interested in the project. With optimal capacity utilization, the facility will be able to provide electricity equivalent to the operation of nine nuclear reactors, or approximately 7.4 million homes in the largest power grid in the USA, serviced by PJM Interconnection LLC.
The second significant project is the construction of the Texas GulfLink deep-water oil export terminal in the Gulf of Mexico, which will be operated by Sentinel Midstream. Japan’s investments in this project are estimated at $2.1 billion. Once fully operational, the facility will allow for the export of American oil worth up to $30 billion annually.
Innovative Projects and Strategic Cooperation
Japan is also investing $600 million in the establishment of a synthetic industrial diamond manufacturing plant in Georgia. The project involves Element Six, a subsidiary of De Beers. High-hardness diamond powder is widely used in the semiconductor, automotive, and energy industries.
“Our huge trade deal with Japan has just started. The scale of these projects is so large that they would be impossible without one very important word – tariffs,” Trump wrote on social media on February 17.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takahichi emphasized that the investments are aimed at strengthening economic security and creating resilient supply chains in the fields of energy, critical minerals, and artificial intelligence. Japanese companies are actively interested in cooperating with the American market to promote mutual benefits and economic growth for both countries.
For his part, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara confirmed at a briefing the implementation of investment projects and noted that both countries will continue close cooperation to expedite the launch of new facilities.