U.S.-Japan Trade Deal: Investment Commitments in Nuclear Energy

Executive Summary 

As part of Japan’s commitment in September to invest $550 billion in the United States, it signed a deal partially funding a U.S. nuclear project worth from $80–$100 billion for Westinghouse to build nuclear reactors and other investments.
Japan has strong capabilities, while the United States has none, in manufacturing nuclear reactor parts that require heavy forging.
This insight provides a summary of the U.S. investment deal with Japan – which exported about $1.4 million worth of nuclear reactor parts to the U.S. in 2024 – and reviews the current nuclear energy industry landscape and trade relationship in the United States and Japan. 

Introduction 

As part of Japan’s commitment in September to invest $550 billion in the United States, it signed a deal, negotiated with President Trump in October, indicating its interest in partially funding a U.S. nuclear project worth from $80–$100 billion for Westinghouse to build nuclear reactors. Additionally, the U.S.-Japan investment deal includes involving Hitachi GE Vernova to build small modular reactors.

Japan has strong capabilities in manufacturing nuclear reactor parts that require heavy forging of large pieces of metals, while the United States does not. Moreover, Japan is an important trading partner in nuclear energy products for the United States, which imported about $1.4 million worth of nuclear reactor parts – nearly 20 percent of its total nuclear reactor part imports – from Japan in 2024.  

This insight provides a summary of the U.S.-Japan investment deal in nuclear energy and reviews the current nuclear energy market landscapes in the United States and Japan – as well as their trade relationship in nuclear energy products. 

Japan’s Investment Commitments in the U.S. Nuclear Energy Industry 

Overview of the Investment Deal 

In October 2025, President Trump signed a deal with Japan outlining several investment projects – a follow on to Japan’s September commitment to invest $550 billion in the United States. The deal covers a variety of areas in which Japan will invest in the United States, including critical minerals, power infrastructure and nuclear reactors. Investment in these three areas would total up to $337 billion, according to the administration’s fact sheet.  

Specifically, for nuclear reactors, the Japanese government is committed to partly fund a strategic partnership agreement between Westinghouse, a U.S. nuclear developer, and the U.S. government. Note that the Japanese government’s fact sheet states that this project is up to $100 billion, while the press release from the Cameco Corporation and Brookfield Asset Management (joint owners of Westinghouse) states the deal is at least $80 billion. Under the agreement, Westinghouse will build AP 1000 nuclear reactors, which are “the most advanced reactor commercially available.” Japan will also fund the project involving Japanese companies, such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Toshiba Group, and IHI, though it does not specify what the involvement will be. The portion of the project not funded by Japan will be funded by U.S. taxpayers.  

Notably, under the agreement, the U.S. government would be entitled to 20 percent of Westinghouse’s returns in excess of $17.5 billion. If Westinghouse’s valuation exceeds $30 billion, the U.S. government could require the company to go public and would be entitled to a 20-percent equity stake in the company. This deal is similar to other deals the Trump Administration has made with Intel and MP Materials that provide the federal government more influence over business decisions in a form of state-directed capitalism. 

Additionally, the U.S.-Japan investment deal also includes involving Hitachi GE Vernova (a Japanese company established through a strategic global alliance between Hitachi and GE in 2007) to build small modular reactors.  

Japan’s heavy manufacturing capability in making nuclear reactor parts  

Japan’s unique and strong capabilities in manufacturing heavy nuclear reactor parts may have played an important role in the investment deal’s focus on the U.S. nuclear energy industry.  

Accessibility to heavy engineering plants for making nuclear reactor components is critical for new reactor construction. This is because constructing a new reactor requires special technical capabilities and an enormous capacity to move and forge large, heavy parts, such as reactor pressure vessels, which are used to contain the reactor fuel safely and hold the coolant. The newest generation of reactors, such as the AP 1000 included in the U.S.-Japan investment deal, requires pressure vessels that are produced by forging presses with a capacity of 14,000–15,000 tonnes that can handle hot steel ingots of 500–600 tonnes. Few countries currently have the heavy forging capacity, including Japan, China, Russia, France, South Korea, and Czech Republic. The United States does not have the capacity due to the significant decline in new reactor construction since the 1980s. 

Japan Steel Works (JSW), a Japanese steel manufacturer, is the world’s largest and most well-known manufacturer with heavy forging capacity. As of 2021, JSW accounted for 80 percent of the global market for large, forged components for nuclear reactors. It has been supplying nuclear reactor components that require heavy forging to the United States since 1974.  

U.S.-Japan Nuclear Energy-related Trade  

Japan is an important trading partner in nuclear energy products for the United States. In 2024, the United States imported about $1.4 million worth of nuclear reactor parts from Japan, accounting for approximately 19 percent of America’s total imports of nuclear reactor parts. (Figure 2) 

In 2024, the United States imported over $162 million worth of nuclear energy-related products, including nuclear reactors, fuel elements, and various reactor components. The import value of nuclear reactor parts (HTS code 840140) remained low over the last few years, totaling just $7.5 million in 2024 (under 5 percent of all nuclear-related imports). In 2025, the United States imported close to $31 million in nuclear reactor parts between January and July, a dramatic increase compared to the last decade.  

As Figure 1 shows, there has been a substantial increase in imports of nuclear-related products in the past year. This trend is expected to continue, especially for nuclear reactor parts. Based on median monthly import values in 2025, American Action Forum (AAF) estimated that total imports of nuclear reactor parts will reach approximately $50 million in 2025, representing 30 percent of all nuclear-related imports. This surge in imports is primarily driven by a large increase in trade with Italy, from which the United States imported nearly 80 percent of all nuclear reactor part imports between January and July of this year. (See Figure 2 and Figure 3.) While the United States imported just $65,000 in parts from Italy last year, imports jumped to over $24 million in the first half of 2025, according to data from the U.S. International Trade Commission. This could be due to the U.S.-Italy partnership in nuclear reactor projects earlier this year. For example, Westinghouse signed a $180 million contract with the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor project, drawing supplies from two Italian companies, Ansaldo Nucleare and Walter Tosto. In 2025, the United States also imported nuclear reactor parts from other countries including Canada, Germany, and Mexico.  

Source: U.S. International Trade Commission 

Source: U.S. International Trade Commission 

Source: U.S. International Trade Commission 

Despite the Trump Administration’s introduction of wide-sweeping tariffs on “Liberation Day,” the effective tariff rates on nuclear products have not drastically increased. In fact, the tariff rate on parts of nuclear reactors is estimated to have declined from 2.5 percent in 2024 to 0.6 percent this year. Meanwhile, the tariff rate on the broader product category of nuclear-related imports is estimated to remain at close to 3 percent (See Figure 4).  

Source: U.S. International Trade Commission 

Nuclear Energy in the United States and Japan 

The United States is currently the world’s largest nuclear energy player in terms of its total net generation capacity (97 gigawatts) and number of active reactors (94). It significantly leads other top countries in nuclear energy capacity, including France, China, Russia, and South Korea.  

Nuclear energy in the United States 

A previous AAF’s Forum  insight provides a detailed analysis of the nuclear energy landscape in the United States. Although construction of new nuclear reactors has stalled over the past few decades, nuclear energy has been an important energy source, generating about 20 percent of the country’s total electricity. Recently, there has been renewed U.S. interest in nuclear energy from a bipartisan group of congressional members, as well as the administration, the private sector, and the public.  

The 2024 bipartisan ADVANCE Act of 2024 (Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy), provides important support for the nuclear energy industry by lowering regulatory compliance costs and removing some regulatory barriers for developers. Following enactment of this bill, U.S. technology companies such as Microsoft, Google, and Amazon, have announced large investment projects in next-generation nuclear technology, including advanced nuclear reactors and small modular reactors.  

The Trump Administration has strengthened the policy support for nuclear energy to meet the fast-rising electricity demand, mostly from AI data centers. Earlier this year, President Trump signed four executive orders to accelerate U.S. deployment of advanced nuclear technologies by expediting regulatory review processes, promoting nuclear energy exports, and reforming the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Nuclear energy in Japan 

Nuclear energy was an important energy source in Japan, generating about 30 percent of the country’s electricity, until a major accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station caused by an earthquake in 2011. After the accident, public sentiment shifted significantly against nuclear energy in Japan, and the government suspended the operation of its nuclear reactors from 2013–2015 for safety checks.  

Since then, Japan has been slowly restarting its nuclear reactors, and it currently has 33 operable nuclear reactors, generating about 6 percent of the country’s total electricity. It is planning to increase the share of nuclear power in the electricity generation mix to between 20–22 percent by 2030. 

Looking Forward  

As the United States expands its nuclear energy production and Japan continues to ramp up its nuclear energy capacity, it is important to monitor the progress toward realizing the nuclear energy investment commitments in the U.S.-Japan deal. How much of the promised investment is realized, and in what form (capital, nuclear reactor products, or technology support) is key to achieving the investment targets in the deal. It will also be crucial to keep an eye on how this U.S.-Japan nuclear investment deal unfolds in the broader context of the U.S.-Japan trade relationship.