Akazawa Leaves for U.S. for Investment Talks

Tokyo, March 5 (Jiji Press)–Japanese trade minister Ryosei Akazawa left on a U.S. trip Thursday for talks on projects related to Japan’s promise to spend up to 550 billion dollars on investments in and loans to the United States, a key element of the two nations’ tariff agreement reached last year. Akazawa is slated to meet with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to discuss the selection of second-batch projects linked to the Japanese pledge. “We need to advance coordination quickly through minister-level talks,” Akazawa told reporters at Haneda Airport in Tokyo right ahead of his departure. His trip precedes Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s visit to the United States later this month for a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. In February, three projects worth a total of 36 billion dollars–the construction of a gas-fired thermal power plant and a deep-sea crude oil export facility, and the production of synthetic diamonds–were announced as Japan’s first-round investment in the United States as part of the tariff deal. Next-generation nuclear reactor and copper refinery construction is considered for the second-round investment. The focal point is whether more projects that would benefit both countries will be chosen from a national security perspective. In February, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated the Trump administration’s reciprocal tariffs imposed on trade partners of the United States. Following this, the administration newly introduced unified 10 pct tariffs instead. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that the tariff rate will be raised to 15 pct as early as this week. “We need to closely communicate with the U.S. side soon,” Akazawa said of the new tariffs. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]