Japan and US speed up projects amid looming Trump tariffs
Donald Trump, President of the US (photo: Getty Images)
Japan and the US intend to accelerate the implementation of Tokyo’s $550 billion investment initiative in America. These investments were agreed upon as part of an agreement to reduce tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, reports Bloomberg.
“Ministers are aligned on expediting preparations so that the first project under the Strategic Investment Initiative could be announced as early as possible,” the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
The advisory group discussing the first project met yesterday evening, Tuesday, December 23. The meeting included Japan’s Minister of Commerce, Ryosei Akazawa, as well as US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Energy Secretary Chris Wright. According to the Foreign Ministry, the meeting lasted about two hours.
The first meeting under this initiative took place last week. It marked the beginning of the formal process for selecting participants for the investment mechanism.
It is now expected that, once negotiations are completed, the advisory group will submit its recommendations to the investment committee, chaired by Lutnik. The final investment decision will be made by US President Donald Trump based on the committee’s recommendations.
Bloomberg notes that Japan could face the reinstatement of higher tariffs if it does not finance the project within 45 days of Trump’s decision.
Earlier this year, Trump threatened to raise tariffs on Japanese goods to 25%, but later reduced them to 15% for most products after Japan agreed to increase its investments in the US through the $550 billion mechanism.
