Korean Media: U.S. Commerce Secretary: South Korea and Japan Invest 75 Billion Dollars in the U.S., First Build Nuclear Power Plants
On the 2nd of local time, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced that a portion of the investment fund established by South Korea and Japan for the U.S. under tariff negotiations will be used to build nuclear power plants in the United States.
On that day, Lutnick mentioned during a cabinet meeting at the White House the total cash investment of 750 billion U.S. dollars (550 billion U.S. dollars from Japan and 200 billion U.S. dollars from South Korea) committed by South Korea and Japan, and cited as an example: "We will start with nuclear energy."
He said: "In order to develop U.S. electricity, we need a large nuclear infrastructure," and "we will build it using the tens of billions of dollars provided by Japan and South Korea."
In other words, the investment funds from South Korea and Japan will be prioritized for building nuclear power plants within the United States.
He said: "We will build here, and the revenue will be split 50-50." He also said: "We will invest 150 billion U.S. dollars in shipbuilding in the United States."
Lutnick made the above remarks when officials attending the cabinet meeting introduced their recent achievements in turn.
Previously, the investment memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between the United States and Japan listed a specific list of investment projects, clearly stating that out of the 550 billion U.S. dollars for building large nuclear power plants and small modular reactors (SMR) in the United States, Japan would contribute more than half, which is 3,320 billion U.S. dollars.
South Korea also signed the MOU agreement, deciding that in the total 3,500 billion U.S. dollars investment in the United States, 2,000 billion U.S. dollars would be invested in sectors such as shipbuilding, energy, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, core minerals, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing in cash form. The remaining 1,500 billion U.S. dollars would be used for shipbuilding investments, including cash investment, direct investment by Korean companies (FDI), guarantees, and ship financing.
Regarding the distribution of investment returns, before the principal and interest are repaid, South Korea and the United States will split the profits 5-5; after the principal and interest are repaid, the profit sharing ratio will be 1-9 between South Korea and the United States.
On that day, President Trump stated that before he imposed tariffs, countries, including allies, were extorting the United States, and specifically mentioned South Korea and Japan.
He said: "I don't say (the country's) name. I don't mention Japan, and I also refuse to mention South Korea," "but they have extorted the United States in a way that no other country has ever experienced. Our country was taken advantage of, and now we are making a lot of money through heavy tariffs."
Source: Chosun Ilbo
Original: toutiao.com/article/1850457218622787/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.