Trump reveals first set of Japan's investments in US, comprising 3 projects

US President Donald Trump has revealed "the first set" of Japan's investments and loans for three projects, under its 550-billion-dollar commitment to the US, according to NHK World-Japan.

In his social media post on Tuesday, Trump announced projects in three US states -- in oil and gas in Texas, power generation in Ohio and critical minerals in Georgia.

He said they are "part of our historic trade deal to revitalize the American Industrial Base, create hundreds of thousands of great American Jobs" and "strengthen our National and Economic Security like never before."

He stressed that the scale of the projects is "so large" and that they could not be done without tariffs. He said the gas power plant in Ohio "will be the largest in History," and the critical minerals facility "will end our FOOLISH dependance on Foreign Sources."

The projects, mainly in fields that are key to economic security, are part of Japan's 550-billion-dollar investment and loans deal agreed to between the two countries. The agreement was reached in bilateral talks over the US tariff measures. Japan's Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Akazawa Ryosei held another round of talks with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington on Thursday last week.

The US Commerce Department posted Lutnick's statement on social media. He said these three projects represent a 36-billion-dollar commitment. US Commerce Department reveals details of the three projects

The US Commerce Department has provided more details on the three projects in a social media post. The first is a natural gas power plant in the state of Ohio. It will be the country's largest with a capacity to generate 9.2 gigawatts of electricity. Japan's government says more than 33 billion dollars will be invested in the Ohio plant, the largest amount among the first projects.

Companies such as Toshiba, Hitachi, Mitsubishi Electric and SoftBank Group may participate.

The second project is the construction of a deepwater crude oil export facility off the Texas coast. The Commerce Department says it could handle oil exports worth 20 to 30 billion dollars a year.

Japan will invest roughly 2 billion dollars, with companies such as Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and Nippon Steel likely to be involved. The third project is a plant to produce synthetic industrial diamonds for use in advanced technology products.

The facility in Georgia is expected to meet all of US demand for the materials. Almost 600 million dollars has been pegged for the plant, which will reduce dependence on China for supply of synthetic diamonds. The Commerce Department says the deals are structured so Japan will earn its return on the money invested.

For the US, it gains strategic assets to expand the country's industrial capacity and strengthen its energy dominance.

Under the terms of the trade deal, Japan has 45 days to fund a project once Washington has informed it of the president's selection. US media outlet Bloomberg says the agreement is likely to be a top agenda item when Takaichi and Trump are scheduled to meet in Washington next month.