Japan and other Asia-Pacific nations are set to unveil at least US$30 billion (RM118.15 billion) worth of agreements with US companies this weekend, as Trump administration officials descend on Tokyo to press for more collaboration with regional allies on energy and critical minerals.
Roughly 20 planned deals in the form of purchase commitments and other transactions have been confirmed as events got underway on Saturday, according to a White House official who asked not to be named before the announcements. The deals span a range of products and sectors including liquefied natural gas (LNG), coal and nuclear power, critical minerals, batteries and strategic infrastructure finance, the official said.
The flurry of activity comes in the run-up to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s visit to Washington on March 19 and US President Donald Trump’s planned trip to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in roughly three weeks.
The first-ever US-sponsored Indo-Pacific Energy Security Ministerial and Business Forum in Tokyo comes as the White House seeks to diversify US supply chains for the critical minerals used in mobile phones, batteries, jet engines and other products. Under Trump, the US has already taken steps — including buying stakes in mineral companies — to wean itself off supplies from China after a trade dispute halted the flow of some materials last year.
A phalanx of American government officials are attending the summit that’s organised by the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) — including more than a dozen representatives from at least five Cabinet-level departments as well as the White House, its National Energy Dominance Council (NEDC), the USTDA and the US Export-Import Bank. Overall, some 18 nations are set to participate, including Australia, Bangladesh and South Korea.
The Middle East war — and the energy-related disruptions it’s spawned — will heighten the intensity of discussions, underscoring the benefits of diversifying supplies of natural gas and other commodities. The suspension of LNG exports from Qatar’s state-owned energy company — long viewed as the world’s most reliable supplier — has highlighted the risk of relying on one region for critical energy supplies and could give a commercial boost to US rivals.
“Global energy markets, certainly, today, are being stressed by these large global events,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said at the start of the summit on Saturday. “But that makes it even more important than we have the discussions and dialogues that we’re having here today — and not just a dialogue but that we actually translate those dialogues into deals, that there’s investments that are being made, partnerships being formed.
t least one deal set to be discussed over the two-day weekend event has previously been announced: Venture Global Inc’s long-term contract to supply 1.5 million tons a year of LNG to a subsidiary of South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Corp. Hours before the conference began, Venture Global announced it will move forward with an US$8.6 billion expansion of its third LNG export project in Louisiana.
Source: theedgemalaysia