Japan and the United States have finalized the first tranche of investments under their trade agreement, totaling $550 billion. Tokyo will finance energy and critical mineral projects to the tune of $36 billion in exchange for a reduction in US tariffs from 25% to 15%.

“Our massive trade deal with Japan has just launched,” US President Donald Trump said. He noted that the scale of these projects is so large, and that they “could not be done without one very special word, TARIFFS.” Three major projects have been approved: a $33 billion, 9.2-gigawatt gas-fired power plant in Ohio, led by a SoftBank subsidiary; the GulfLink deepwater oil terminal in Texas, valued at $2.1 billion; and a $600 million synthetic diamond plant in Georgia.

Japan now has 45 working days to fund the approved projects. If the country fails to meet this deadline, the US may reinstate the previous tariffs or seize a portion of the revenues. The deal strengthens the position of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who is set to meet with Trump in Washington on March 19.