Work Underway for Selecting U.S. Projects for Japanese Funding

Tokyo, Dec. 29 (Jiji Press)–Japanese and U.S. officials are working to select which projects in the United States will receive 550 billion dollars in investments and loans from Japan as part of a trade agreement that Tokyo and Washington struck in summer 2025. Projects related to energy and artificial intelligence are considered to be likely candidates. Japan aims to avoid high-risk projects while honoring its commitments to ensure that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump does not raise tariffs on Japan again that have been lowered under the trade agreement. On Dec. 18, the consultation committee, a panel set up by the two governments to discuss recipient projects, held its first meeting online. They discussed a list of candidate projects totaling about 400 billion dollars across the four areas of energy, power development for AI, strengthening AI infrastructure, and critical minerals that were outlined in the Joint Fact Sheet for Japan-U.S. Investment, released in October. The start of discussions is a “very favorable development,” Japanese trade minister Ryosei Akazawa said at the time. The investment committee, a U.S.-only panel, will recommend projects to Trump, who has the final say. Japan plans to use the consultation committee, which gives advice to the investment committee, to ensure that it does not provide funding to projects expected to incur significant losses. The first project is expected to be chosen next year. Energy-sector projects outlined in the fact sheet include Westinghouse’s plan to build nuclear reactors in which Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and Toshiba Corp. are considering participating. The fact sheet also includes SoftBank Group Corp.’s interest in designing and developing large-scale power supply infrastructure as well as projects involving Panasonic Corp. and other Japanese companies. The Japanese investments and loans are part of Japan-U.S. joint efforts to strengthen supply chains for critical sectors. The trade agreement also calls for cooperation in semiconductors and shipbuilding. Tokyo wants Japan and the United States to establish a relationship in which both sides benefit from those efforts. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]