Tariffs remain a key part of the Trump Administration's foreign policy. Right now, Japan and South Korea are taking different approaches to deal with them.
This week, Japan and the United States announced three projects in the U.S. that will get about $36 billion in Japanese investment — the first part of a pledge to invest $550 billion in the U.S. economy.
Most of the initial money will go to a natural gas power plant in Ohio. The cost is $33 billion, and trade officials in both Washington and Tokyo said this week it will be the largest natural gas plant in the world.
Smaller projects include a $2 billion crude oil export facility on the Gulf Coast in Texas, and a synthetic industrial diamond operation in Georgia.
Both President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi are praising the deals — calling them good for companies in both countries.
The timing is not a coincidence: Takaichi is scheduled to visit the White House next month.
South Korea has been slower with its promise to invest $350 billion in the U.S.
Trump has threatened higher tariffs on South Korean products unless there's progress on specific projects.
But an investment framework remains stalled in the National Assembly. And lingering political divisions in the country may still come with an economic cost, in the currency of higher tariffs.
