Policy · Investment policy
Ishiba pledges to lift Japan's U.S. investment to $1 trillion; Trump says Nippon Steel will invest in, not own, U.S. Steel
- From
- Government of Japan (Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba) (Tokyo)
- Covers
- United States (President Donald Trump), Washington, D.C.
- Value
- $1 trillion (investment goal)
- Status
- Pledge made at the February 7, 2025 summit; later formalized in the 2025 trade deal's $550B investment framework.
- Date
- 2025-02-07
At their first summit in Washington, Prime Minister Ishiba told President Trump that Japan would work to raise its investment in the United States to an unprecedented $1 trillion, which Trump welcomed. The joint leaders' statement committed both sides to significantly increase bilateral investment and employment and to expand U.S. LNG exports to Japan. At the press conference Trump said Nippon Steel had agreed to invest heavily in U.S. Steel rather than own it.
Why it matters
The summit reframed Japanese direct investment as Tokyo's main bargaining chip with the Trump administration, a role it later played in tariff talks. It also signaled the first opening for a revised Nippon Steel deal after Biden's block.
What was agreed
The talks on February 7, 2025 were the two leaders' first in-person meeting and ran about 1 hour 50 minutes, starting at 11:55 a.m. Washington time. Beyond investment and energy, the joint statement confirmed that Article 5 of the U.S.-Japan security treaty applies to the Senkaku Islands. Japan restated its commitment to fundamentally strengthen its defense capabilities, and the leaders told their foreign and defense ministers to hold a "2+2" meeting soon. They also agreed to deepen cooperation on critical technologies such as AI and semiconductors.
At the press conference, Trump said the two sides were discussing a joint venture tied to the Alaska LNG project, a $44 billion plan for an 800-mile pipeline from the North Slope to a liquefaction plant in Nikiski. Japan expressed interest but gave no details of what it would contribute. Asked about the risk of new tariffs, Ishiba said he did not see issues between the two countries that would call for higher tariffs.
The investment baseline
The $1 trillion goal was framed against Japan's direct investment position in the United States, which the U.S. Commerce Department put at $783.3 billion at the end of 2023. That made Japan the largest foreign direct investor in the U.S. for a fifth straight year, a point Ishiba stressed at the press conference. JETRO's 2026 report puts the figure at $827.1 billion.
What happened next
Nippon Steel went on to buy U.S. Steel outright in June 2025, rather than make the minority investment Trump described, and the $1 trillion pledge was later folded into the $550 billion investment package of the 2025 trade deal. Both are covered in separate entries.
Sources
Kakehashi M&A News home
