The first set of investments under a $550 billion US-Japan trade deal will involve three energy and critical minerals projects, President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday.
Mr Trump said the first projects include a critical minerals site in Georgia, a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Texas, and a gas power plant in Ohio. He did not give specifics on how the projects would be financed.
The announcement comes about a month before Mr Trump is set to host Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in Washington. The two agreed on a framework during Mr Trump's visit to Japan last yeart, focusing on investments involving critical minerals, energy and artificial intelligence.
Mr Trump in a Truth Social post said the first investments would increase US “energy dominance” and end “our foolish dependence on foreign sources”.
“The scale of these projects are so large, and could not be done without one very special word, tariffs,” he wrote.
The agreement comes as part of a broader push by the Trump administration to reduce dependency on China's rare earth minerals. China accounts for 70 per cent of the world's rare-earth mining and 90 per cent of processing.
Beijing announced restrictions on its exports and tightened oversight on foreign producers that rely on Chinese materials amid a trade row with Washington. Mr Trump is expected to visit China for talks with President Xi Jinping this year.
