Totaling $550 Billion: Japan’s U.S. Investment Project List Revealed, Largest Projects Near $100 Billion, U.S. Stocks in Related Sectors Rally

CCTV News reported that U.S. President Donald Trump visited Japan on October 27 and met with Japan’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, on October 28. Securities Times reported that on Tuesday the Japanese government published a list of potential projects under a $550 billion investment framework for the United States, disclosing for the first time concrete proposals that could be financed under the core terms of the U.S.–Japan trade agreement.

On October 28 U.S. stock indices moved higher and refreshed intraday records. At the time of reporting, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.32%, the Nasdaq gained 0.31%, and the S&P 500 rose 0.01%.

Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry released the project list showing that corporations including SoftBank Group, Westinghouse Electric, and Toshiba plan investments spanning energy, artificial intelligence and critical minerals, with individual project sizes ranging from $350 million to roughly $100 billion. Energy projects account for the largest share of the aggregate investment. Westinghouse Electric intends to pursue AP1000 nuclear reactor sites and small modular reactor projects with investment approaching $100 billion, with Japanese suppliers and operators such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries expected to participate. A separate small modular reactor initiative potentially involving Hitachi GE Vernova is also projected at a similar scale.

SoftBank Group has expressed interest in a $25 billion power‑infrastructure development project. Carrier may supply thermal cooling systems for power facilities and Panasonic plans to deploy energy storage systems. The disclosed list comprises 21 projects with combined investments exceeding $400 billion, and Japanese firms could access financing and loan guarantees from government‑backed institutions. This framework derives from a memorandum of understanding signed in September that established a bilateral committee and a special investment committee under the leadership of U.S. Secretary of Commerce Jamie R. Lute.

Final selections of projects eligible for the investment mechanism will be made by the United States, though Japan is expected to retain some consultative influence. The memorandum also preserves the U.S. president’s authority to reinstate higher tariffs if Japan does not fund projects chosen by the U.S. side. Bloomberg noted that the memorandum aims to promote aligned economic and security interests through investments in semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, metals, critical minerals, shipbuilding, energy, artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

U.S. uranium equities advanced sharply, with the sector up 11.5% at the time of reporting. Cameco rose more than 20%, Uranium Energy gained over 11% and Energy Fuels increased over 6%. U.S. nuclear power stocks rose 3.87%, led by NuScale Power, which climbed nearly 12%, while Centrus Energy advanced 3.41%.

Cameco and Brookfield Asset Management disclosed ahead of the session that they had signed a strategic partnership with the U.S. government to construct “at least $80 billion” of Westinghouse Electric AP1000 nuclear units across the United States, a program described as a foundational pillar for U.S. nuclear and AI infrastructure. Cailian Press reports that U.S. data center electricity demand is projected to reach about 9% of total power consumption by 2035, prompting major technology and energy firms to develop new generation capacity. Although many technology companies favor small modular reactors, the agreement with Westinghouse targets large reactors.

The parties stated that each dual‑unit AP1000 site could create or sustain approximately 45,000 manufacturing and engineering positions across 43 U.S. states, and that nationwide construction would generate over 100,000 construction jobs. Six AP1000 reactors are currently operational worldwide, and the technology has been selected for projects in Poland, Ukraine and Bulgaria.

Cameco and Brookfield completed Westinghouse Electric’s privatization in 2023 in a $7.9 billion debt‑inclusive transaction in which Brookfield Renewable holds 51% and Cameco 49%. The partnership reportedly grants the U.S. government additional investment rights. After final investments are made and at least $80 billion of Westinghouse reactors are built in the United States, the government would be entitled to 20% of Westinghouse profits exceeding $17.5 billion. The U.S. government may also participate in a future Westinghouse initial public offering by acquiring equity equal to 20% of the IPO valuation after deducting $17.5 billion from that valuation.

During U.S. trading Microsoft’s market capitalization briefly exceeded $4 trillion, with shares at $541.68 and a market value of roughly $4.03 trillion at the time of reporting. Microsoft announced a new agreement with OpenAI under which OpenAI will purchase an additional $250 billion of Azure services; Microsoft will no longer hold exclusive preferred provider status for OpenAI compute. OpenAI may co‑develop with third parties; API products will remain Azure‑exclusive while non‑API products may be deployed on other cloud platforms. Microsoft supports the establishment of a nonprofit structure under OpenAI’s board and retains investment exposure in that nonprofit equivalent to about $135 billion.

Apple’s market capitalization also surpassed $4 trillion intraday, temporarily bringing the number of U.S. listed companies above the $4 trillion mark to three, before retreating; Apple was flat at press time. Counterpoint research indicated that the early sales performance of Apple’s iPhone 17 series in China and the United States outpaced the iPhone 16 series. According to the report, iPhone 17 sales in the first ten days were 14% higher than the prior generation, with the standard iPhone 17 nearly doubling the predecessor’s sales in China and average growth across the two markets of 31%. A Deepwater report similarly described iPhone 17 as driving Apple’s strongest post‑pandemic sales momentum, noting that average waiting times for the new model were about 13% longer than last year.