Trump unveils 3 major projects under ‘massive’ US-Japan trade deal

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (February 17) unveiled the major projects under the “MASSIVE Trade Deal with Japan”, which was signed in September last year, under which Tokyo has committed to invest USD 550 billion in the United States.

As part of the agreement, Washington will slash tariffs on Japanese imports to 15 per cent.

The White House simultaneously announced the three major projects worth a combined USD 36 billion — the first tranche of Japan’s larger investment pledge. The initiatives span oil and gas, power generation, and critical minerals manufacturing across Texas, Ohio, and Georgia.

Posting on Truth Social, Trump said the deal would “REVITALIZE the American Industrial Base”, create hundreds of thousands of jobs, and strengthen US economic and national security.

Record-breaking power plant in Ohio

A centrepiece of the announcement is a USD 33 billion natural gas-fired power plant in Portsmouth, Ohio. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the facility would generate 9.2 gigawatts annually, calling it the largest natural gas-fired generating plant in US history — enough to power all homes in Ohio.

The plant will be operated by SB Energy, a subsidiary of Japan’s SoftBank Group. The additional capacity is expected to bolster baseload supply amid surging electricity demand, particularly from data centres supporting artificial intelligence applications.

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Trump highlighted the Ohio project, along with a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility in the Gulf of America and a critical minerals plant in Georgia, as examples of how tariffs had enabled large-scale investments.

Trump wrote, “The scale of these projects are so large, and could not be done without one very special word, TARIFFS.”

Energy exports and critical minerals push

Another major initiative involves Japan backing the USD 2.1 billion Texas GulfLink deepwater crude oil export terminal being developed by Sentinel Midstream. Lutnick said the project could generate USD 20–30 billion annually in US crude exports, reinforcing America’s position as a leading energy supplier.

The third project is a USD 600 million synthetic industrial diamond manufacturing plant in Georgia. Operated by Element Six, a unit of De Beers Group, the facility aims to meet 100 per cent of US demand for synthetic diamond grit used in semiconductor and advanced manufacturing industries — reducing reliance on China.

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However, details on how much of the funding will come directly from Japanese entities remain unclear. Under an earlier US-Japan framework, profits would initially be shared equally until Japan recovers its investment, after which the split would shift 90-10 in favour of the United States.

The announcements followed meetings between Lutnick and Japan’s economic and trade minister Ryosei Akazawa, who had indicated that some issues were still under discussion.