Japan to boost U.S. chipmaking with up to 28 trillion won for two plants

【Financial News Tokyo correspondent Seo Hye-jin】Japan is expanding into semiconductor manufacturing the investment and lending to the United States it pledged during tariff negotiations with Washington. Following earlier investments focused on energy infrastructure, Japan will put up to $21 billion (about 28.203 trillion won) toward building new plants for U.S. contract chipmaker GlobalFoundries (GF). Japan will provide the funding, while Japanese equipment makers take part, helping expand U.S. semiconductor production capacity.
On the 15th, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) and Asahi Shimbun reported that GF announced on the 14th (local time) it would build two semiconductor plants in Malta, New York. The project is the third under Japan’s $550 billion (about 738.65 trillion won) investment and lending plan for the United States, agreed upon during last year’s U.S.-Japan tariff negotiations.
The investment will proceed in two phases. First, a plant will be built at a cost of about $10 billion (about 13.43 trillion won) and is expected to begin operations in 2029. A further $10 billion (about 13.43 trillion won) will then be invested to build a second plant.
The two plants will produce logic semiconductors used for computing. Each plant will have an annual capacity of 900,000 wafers, based on 300-mm-diameter wafers.
GF Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tim Breen said the new plants, once operational, would “increase U.S. wafer production capacity by 10%” and that they would “connect the United States and Japan in semiconductor manufacturing and bring together expertise built up over decades.”
The project will be carried out through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) established by the U.S. and Japanese governments. The SPV will handle financing, overall project management, and the management of construction, production and technology, while GF will be responsible for hiring staff and procuring materials. Japanese semiconductor equipment makers, including Tokyo Electron, are expected to take part.
According to Nikkei, the Japanese government has been discussing prospects for recouping the investment and other matters since receiving an investment proposal from the U.S. side. The announcement did not provide specific financing terms or details on how profits would be divided. Separately from the agreement on the plant investment, the U.S. Department of Commerce plans to acquire about a 4% stake in GF.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on social media the same day, “At my direction, Japan is providing the funds needed for an investment of up to $21 billion (about 28.203 trillion won).” He added that at least 27,000 jobs would be created, mainly in construction, and at least 1,000 through plant operations.
Last July, the United States and Japan agreed that Japan would pursue $550 billion (about 738.65 trillion won) in investment and lending to the United States in exchange for the U.S. lowering tariffs on imports from Japan. The first projects, announced in February this year, included gas-fired power generation facilities, crude oil export infrastructure and industrial synthetic diamond production. The second project, in March, involved building small modular reactors (SMRs) and natural gas power plants.
With this third project, the scope of investment has expanded from energy infrastructure to advanced manufacturing. During a press conference while visiting the United States in early September, Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Ryosei Akazawa said, in relation to the selection of investment and lending projects, “Discussions on artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor manufacturing will account for a very large share.”
According to Nikkei, the previously announced investment and lending projects total $109 billion (about 146.387 trillion won), equivalent to about 20% of the total commitment.

[email protected] Seo Hye-jin Reporter