TOKYO (Reuters) -The United States will make an announcement this week on Japan’s $550 billion investment in the U.S., Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said, as a top Japanese trade envoy is reportedly planning to visit Washington to formalise the deal.
“The Japanese agreement, which we’re going to announce later this week, that’s $550 billion at the hand of Donald Trump,” Lutnick told the Ingraham Angle show on Fox News on Monday night.
Washington and Tokyo agreed in July to set a reduced 15% tariff on Japanese goods in exchange for a $550 billion package of U.S.-bound investment through government-backed loans and guarantees, but details of the package remain obscure.
Japanese broadcaster FNN reported on Monday that Tokyo’s top trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa will visit the U.S. as soon as this week to discuss a document to formalise the agreement.
While the U.S. side urged Japan to have a written agreement on the investment plans, Japan hopes to make the document not strongly legally-binding and demand a presidential order to cut tariffs on Japanese goods soon, the Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday.
The lack of a signed document on the U.S.-Japan trade agreement had created confusion in Tokyo about tariff rates until Lutnick and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent clarified earlier this month that Japanese goods are exempt from overlapping levies.
Lutnick and Bessent also promised, during Akazawa’s previous visit on August 7, that Trump will issue another presidential order to lower tariffs on Japanese cars to 15% from 27.5% but did not specify when.
(Reporting by Kantaro Komiya; Editing by Sonali Paul)
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