US and Japan Forge Tech Alliance—Infrastructure Boom or Just Another Paper Tiger?

Washington and Tokyo are hammering out a deal that could funnel billions into next-gen infrastructure—because nothing says ’strategic partnership’ like throwing money at semiconductors and undersea cables.

Behind the diplomatic handshakes? A race to counter China’s Belt and Road—with better PR. The real question: Will this actually dent Beijing’s dominance, or just give hedge funds something new to hype before the inevitable pullback?

Bessent looks for new revenue sources, Ishiba eyes G7 milestone

Scott Bessent is reportedly pushing for new streams of government revenue that don’t involve raising taxes. “The theory is that Bessent is looking for revenue streams for the Treasury that do not involve raising taxes, and however far out this joint fund may sound, it would in theory provide that,” one person briefed on the talks said.

The goal is to design a new kind of sovereign financial partnership, where Japan would be protected from political volatility in the US while still profiting from shared ventures.

Shigeru Ishiba, who leads Japan’s government, has shown strong interest in this structure. On Friday, he spoke with Donald TRUMP for 45 minutes by phone to talk about security, tariffs, and diplomacy.

Afterward, Ishiba told reporters he expects their upcoming face-to-face meeting at the G7 summit in Canada this June to be a major moment for both the investment fund talks and the stalled tariff negotiations.

Japan has made clear it wants zero tariffs, while Trump’s team has drawn a line at a 10% minimum rate. Ishiba, speaking Sunday in Kyoto, said there had been “progress” on a range of issues including non-tariff measures and economic security.

Japan’s top trade negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, had been in Washington that same Friday for the third round of official tariff talks with US officials.

Trump and Son connect through Stargate, shipbuilding also on the table

Masayoshi Son has been actively involved in shaping the proposal. He’s been a frequent visitor to Mar-a-Lago, where he’s met directly with Trump. The SoftBank founder was also one of the key figures standing beside Trump in January, during the announcement of the $500 billion Stargate project.

The plan includes building AI infrastructure and data centers across the US, with Oracle and OpenAI named as major players. That project, according to people who’ve spoken with Son, is exactly the kind of initiative this US-Japan wealth fund could back.

If the fund becomes reality, it would replace the old playbook where governments gave tax incentives to attract factory builds or private construction. Instead, this one would cut the middleman and give direct investment returns based on the share owned by each government.

Bessent wants it to be the model for future deals with allies, while Japan wants protections baked in to avoid dealing with random WHITE House policy swings.

Shigeru Ishiba also brought up military shipbuilding cooperation during his Sunday briefing. He said Trump’s administration had shown interest in letting US warships be repaired in Japan, and Tokyo is open to it.

He mentioned icebreaker technology, a Japanese specialty, as a potential LINK — especially for Arctic trade routes, which are becoming more important. “We will continue to further refine our discussions with the G7 summit in mind,” Ishiba said.

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