On February 17, 2026, the United States and Japan announced the first investments under their landmark trade agreement — with Japan committing up to $36 billion to oil, gas, and critical mineral projects across three US states. The announcement represents the opening tranche of Japan's sweeping $550 billion US investment pledge made as part of the trade deal struck in 2025 under the Trump administration.

President Donald Trump highlighted the agreement on social media, declaring: “Our MASSIVE Trade Deal with Japan has just launched!” — crediting tariff leverage for enabling the scale of the commitments. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi described the initiatives as delivering mutual benefit and strengthening economic security between the two nations.

$36 billion in Japanese investment is now committed across three US states — the first installment of a $550 billion total pledge. The centerpiece: a $33B Ohio natural gas plant that will be the largest natural gas-fired facility in US history.

Background: The US-Japan Trade Framework

The trade pact, finalized in 2025, structured Japan's $550 billion US investment commitment as a condition for reduced tariffs on Japanese imports. Under the agreement, baseline tariff rates on automobiles and other Japanese goods were lowered to 15% — down from higher levels that had been proposed during earlier trade pressure. The deal focuses on four strategic areas:

Energy exports — LNG, crude oil, and power generation infrastructure
Power generation — Domestic baseload capacity including natural gas and renewables
Advanced manufacturing — Synthetic materials, semiconductors, and industrial inputs
Critical minerals — Supply chain diversification away from Chinese sources

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick detailed the first three projects in a statement, emphasizing their combined role in national security and industrial growth. Discussions between Lutnick and Japan's Economy Minister Ryosei Akazawa preceded the formal announcement.

The Three Projects: Full Breakdown

The $36 billion package is divided across three geographically and industrially distinct initiatives, each targeting a different dimension of US strategic vulnerability:

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Ohio: The AI Power Plant

The Ohio facility is the headline project. SB Energy, a subsidiary of Masayoshi Son's SoftBank Group, will lead a $33 billion natural gas-fired power plant in Portsmouth, Ohio — projected to generate 9.2 gigawatts of electricity annually. To put that in context: the plant's output exceeds the residential electricity needs of every household in Ohio combined.

The project is explicitly designed to serve the surging electricity demand generated by AI data centers. The buildout of hyperscale compute infrastructure — from companies like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Meta — has created a power demand cliff that existing grid capacity cannot meet. A 9.2 GW baseload facility represents a meaningful contribution to closing that gap at a time when utilities across the Midwest are warning of supply shortfalls.

9.2 gigawatts — the projected annual output of the Portsmouth, Ohio plant. That exceeds the electricity needs of all Ohio households and would make it the single largest natural gas-fired plant in US history.

Texas: Unlocking Deepwater Crude Exports

The GulfLink Deepwater Crude Oil Export Terminal, operated by Sentinel Midstream, receives $2.1 billion in Japanese support. The offshore Texas facility is engineered to handle very large crude carriers (VLCCs) — tanker classes that cannot currently dock at most US Gulf Coast export facilities due to depth limitations.

The terminal is projected to facilitate $20–30 billion in annual US crude oil exports once operational, while also securing long-term export capacity for domestic refineries. For Japan, a deepwater terminal partnership directly supports its own energy security by locking in preferential access to US crude — a key diversification goal away from Middle East dependency.

Georgia: Breaking China's Diamond Grit Monopoly

The least-publicized but arguably most strategically significant project is the $600 million synthetic industrial diamond manufacturing plant in Georgia. Operated by Element Six, a unit of De Beers Group, the high-pressure facility is designed to produce synthetic diamond grit meeting 100% of US demand for advanced manufacturing and semiconductor applications.

Industrial diamond grit is a critical input in semiconductor fabrication equipment, precision machining, and defense manufacturing. Currently, the US is heavily reliant on imports — primarily from China — for this material. The Georgia plant directly addresses that supply chain vulnerability, which has been flagged repeatedly in US government critical minerals assessments.

Economic Structure: The 90-10 Profit Split

The financial architecture of the deal is designed to make Japanese participation attractive while ensuring long-term US economic benefit. Under the agreement, profits from these ventures are shared equally until Japan's initial investment capital is fully recovered. After that threshold is crossed, the split shifts to 90% in favor of the United States and 10% for Japan.

This structure functions similarly to a preferred equity arrangement: Japan accepts below-market control over long-term profits in exchange for the tariff concessions and market access that come with the trade deal. For the US, the arrangement means that once initial capital is returned to Japanese investors, the domestic economic benefit of these facilities becomes overwhelmingly American.

When tariffs turn into trillion-dollar handshakes, the only thing bigger than the numbers is the number of headlines they generate.

Broader Implications: Energy, Supply Chains & the $550B Horizon

The $36 billion announcement is the opening move in what the Trump administration is positioning as a generational restructuring of US-allied capital flows. The remaining ~$514 billion of Japan's pledge is expected to flow into similar categories — energy, advanced manufacturing, critical minerals, and potentially semiconductor fabrication — over the coming years.

The investments align with three concurrent US policy priorities: building baseload power capacity for the AI economy, diversifying critical mineral supply chains away from China, and re-shoring advanced manufacturing. Japan's commitment serves its own strategic goals simultaneously — securing LNG supply access, strengthening the bilateral alliance, and ensuring favorable trade terms for its auto industry.

Prime Minister Takaichi's planned visit to Washington is expected to advance further tranches of the investment relationship and potentially formalize additional project commitments. See also: Finance & Markets coverage and Technology sector reporting for related AI infrastructure and supply chain stories.

Timeline: US-Japan Trade Deal to $36B Launch

Project Summary

Project	State	Investment	Operator
Natural Gas Power Plant	Ohio	$33B	SB Energy (SoftBank)
GulfLink Crude Export Terminal	Texas	$2.1B	Sentinel Midstream
Synthetic Diamond Plant	Georgia	$600M	Element Six (De Beers)
Total First Tranche	~$36B	of $550B total pledge