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| 2026-02-18 07:31:22
(LEAD) Trump-Japan investment
(LEAD) Trump announces three Japanese investment projects in Texas, Ohio, Georgia
(ATTN: ADDS Lutnick's statement in paras 8-15)
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, Feb. 17 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced the first set of Japan's investment projects in the United States as part of the Asian country's US$550 billion commitment under a bilateral trade deal, as South Korea is taking domestic steps to fulfill its own investment pledge.
In a social media post, Trump unveiled three investment projects in Texas, Ohio and Georgia, reiterating his tariff policy helped make the projects possible.
"Today, I am pleased to announce three TREMENDOUS Projects in the Strategic Areas of Oil & Gas in the Great State of Texas, Power Generation in the Great State of Ohio, and Critical Minerals in the Great State of Georgia," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
He stressed that Japan is now "officially" and "financially" moving forward with the first batch of investments under what he called a "historic" trade deal that he said is meant to revitalize the American industrial base, create hundreds of thousands of American jobs and strengthen the U.S.' national and economic security.
"The scale of these projects are so large, and could not be done without one very special word, TARIFFS," he said.
"The Gas Power Plant in Ohio (A State I won THREE TIMES!) will be the largest in History, the LNG Facility in the Gulf of America will drive Exports, and further our Country's Energy DOMINANCE, and our Critical Minerals Facility will end our FOOLISH dependence on Foreign Sources." LNG is short for liquefied natural gas.
He added, "America is building again. America is producing again. And America is WINNING again."
In a statement later, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick elaborated on the three projects that he said represent a $36 billion commitment in key sectors of the U.S. economy.
First, in Ohio, the U.S., together with Japan, will develop the "largest natural gas generation facility in history," generating 9.2 gigawatts of power, the secretary said.
"We will strengthen grid reliability, expand baseload power, and support American manufacturing with affordable energy," he said.
Secondly, the countries will build a deepwater crude oil export facility under a project expected to generate $20-30 billion annually in U.S. crude exports, secure export capacity for U.S. refineries and reinforce America's position as the world's leading energy supplier, he said.
Thirdly, they will create synthetic industrial diamond manufacturing capacity in the U.S., which will onshore production 100 percent of U.S. demand for synthetic diamond grit, according to him.
"We will no longer rely on foreign supply for this essential material," he said.
The secretary pointed out that the proceeds from the projects are structured so that Japan earns its return, and America gains strategic assets, expanded industrial capacity and strengthened "energy dominance."
"I am grateful to the president for his leadership and to the Government of Japan for their partnership," Lutnick said.
The announcement came as Washington and Tokyo are preparing to hold a summit between Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at the White House next month after Takaichi's Liberal Democratic Party won a landslide victory in the parliamentary elections earlier this month.
South Korea has been under pressure to start carrying out its $350 billion investment commitment as part of the bilateral trade deal as Trump has threatened to restore "reciprocal" tariffs on the Asian country to 25 percent from 15 percent.
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