WASHINGTON – Japan and the United States on Thursday unveiled a plan to build small modular nuclear reactors as one of three new business projects worth a total of $73 billion under Tokyo’s $550 billion commitment made last year in exchange for tariff relief.
The second batch of joint projects, announced after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, also includes the construction of natural gas generation facilities in Pennsylvania and Texas.
Although the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated the Trump administration’s sweeping tariffs last month, Japan has stuck to the terms of a trade deal the two countries reached in July.
Under the agreement, Japan has committed $550 billion to U.S.-based projects in strategic industries through investments, loans and loan guarantees until the end of Trump’s second term, despite the unpredictability stemming from his administration’s aggressive, transactional approach to international relations.
In mid-February, Japan and the United States announced the first three projects, including building a gas-fired generating facility in Ohio, the largest of its kind in U.S. history, to power artificial intelligence data centers.
On Thursday, the two countries said the construction of small modular reactors by GE Vernova Inc. and Hitachi Ltd. in Tennessee and Alabama, estimated to cost up to $40 billion, will be “groundbreaking” in the United States.
They said it will serve as a “tremendous next-generation stable power source,” leading to more stable electricity prices for Americans and an enhancement of their leadership in global technological competition.
Separately, Japan and the United States agreed to boost cooperation on critical minerals. Against the backdrop of China’s dominance in rare earths, which are essential for a broad array of economic activities and national security, they have established an action plan.
Among many other objectives, the two allies said they will explore a plurilateral trade framework regarding critical minerals with border-adjusted price floors or other measures to help ensure supply chains are not vulnerable to disruptions, including “economic coercion.”
They also signed a memorandum of understanding to advance joint efforts to develop deep-sea mineral resources.
By setting up a working group, areas of cooperation under consideration include sharing information on Japan’s project near Minamitori Island, where it recently succeeded in collecting mud containing rare earth elements from the seabed at a depth of about 5,600 meters.