U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that an agreement on Japan’s $550 billion investment pledge will be released later this week, although Japan has not confirmed plans for an announcement and has remained silent in recent days on the massive commitment it made in the course of tariff negotiations.
“The Japanese agreement, which we are gonna announce later this week, that’s $550 billion at the hand of Donald Trump,” Lutnick said during a Fox News interview on Monday.
When asked Tuesday in Tokyo about Lutnick’s remarks, Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, declined to comment.
Japan and the United States reached a last-minute agreement on July 22 to set both the “reciprocal” tariffs and auto tariffs at 15%. Japan also made a pledge to invest $550 billion in the United States.
Since then, comments by officials from the two countries indicate differing views on the pledge.
U.S. officials have described the pledge as “all new capital” from Japan being invested in the U.S., with America in control and taking 90% of the profits. The United States has also said that tariff rates will be taken higher if the agreement is not implemented.
Japanese officials have said that Japan will provide loans, loan guarantees and equity investment up to the total via government-backed financial institutions, and that direct equity investment will be just 1%-2% of the $550 billion.
Lutnick’s comments to Fox News on Tuesday indicate that the United States remains firm in its view and that the terms and conditions of the pledge will soon be clarified.
The commerce secretary mentioned the deal with Japan while commenting on the administration’s focus on building domestic supply chains in critical fields. He said the $550 billion investment coming from Japan will play a role in that effort.
Lutnick said last week that an agreement document was “weeks away” from being released.
Japanese newspapers are reporting that Akazawa is heading back to the United States to finalize the document and to nudge the U.S. administration to put the agreed-upon tariff rate on Japanese automobiles into effect.
The lack of any movement on auto tariffs has frustrated officials in Tokyo, and getting the rate moved down to the agreed 15% from the current 27.5% total has been top priority. The lack of an agreement document has also been a major issue in Japan, especially among politicians in Tokyo.
Akazawa said that nothing yet has been decided about a possible trip. If he goes, it would be his tenth round of tariff talks with the United States.
“When the contents of an agreement are relatively clear-cut, when there is little need to pin down every detail, so to speak, countries generally don’t feel much need to produce a joint document," Akazawa said on Tuesday.
"If what one hopes to achieve is fairly complex, or if the two sides need to coordinate extensively in order to actually implement what was agreed, then there is naturally more incentive to create a joint document,” he added.
“So, my understanding is that between Japan and the U.S., it is the U.S. side that feels more strongly about creating such a document, or sees greater merit in doing so,” Akazawa noted.
Source:
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/08/26/economy/lutnick-japan-agreement/