The United States and Japan are in active discussions to build a GlobalFoundries chip plant in the US, with working-level talks held on 14 and 15 September 2026 as both governments work through how the investment would be recouped. The project, reported by Nikkei Asia citing officials from both sides, sits within Japan’s broader $550bn tariff-deal investment pledge and would mark a shift in that programme’s scope from power projects into technology and manufacturing.
The proposal and what it involves
Under the proposal, GlobalFoundries, a US-based contract chipmaker, would operate the new facility, which is expected to manufacture logic semiconductors. The cost is estimated at between ¥2tn and ¥3tn, equivalent to roughly $12.67bn to $19.01bn. According to the officials cited by Nikkei Asia, the US first raised the chipmaking project with Japan, and the two sides are now working through a series of outstanding issues, including how the investment could be recovered.
According to Govly, construction is expected to commence soon in order to meet a January 2029 deadline tied to the terms of the trade deal. That timeline gives both governments limited room to resolve the remaining financial and structural questions before ground would need to be broken.
The chip plant is not the only project under discussion. According to TradingView News, the two countries are also examining a large-scale data centre involving the SoftBank Group as part of the same investment framework. That would extend the programme’s reach further into digital infrastructure, alongside the semiconductor manufacturing element.
A broader wave of chip investment in Japan
The GlobalFoundries chip plant Japan discussions are taking place against a backdrop of considerable investment activity in the Japanese semiconductor sector. Late last month, memory chipmakers Kioxia and SanDisk outlined plans to invest more than $31bn in Japan through 2032. The companies said the investment, which remains contingent on continued government backing, is intended to ‘deliver leading technology to support the growing demands of an AI and a data-driven world’.
In July, Israel’s Tower Semiconductor announced plans to expand its 300mm silicon photonics, silicon germanium, and advanced packaging manufacturing capacity in Japan. That expansion is expected to require roughly $3bn in investment.
Together, these commitments reflect a concerted effort by governments and industry to concentrate advanced semiconductor and technology manufacturing capacity in Japan, a trend that the proposed GlobalFoundries plant would both reinforce and internationalise by routing part of Japan’s tariff-related pledge into a US-based facility.
The nuclear element and the wider investment fund
The chip plant proposal sits alongside a nuclear power project that US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi unveiled in March. That $40bn scheme, to be delivered by GE Vernova and Hitachi, involves the construction of small modular nuclear reactors in Tennessee and Alabama. It forms part of a wider strategic investment fund established between the two countries.
Until now, Japan’s tariff-related investments have centred exclusively on power projects of that kind. The GlobalFoundries chip plant Japan proposal, if it progresses, would be the first technology and manufacturing commitment under the programme, adding a new dimension to what has so far been an energy-focused arrangement.
Both sides have confirmed that working-level discussions are continuing. With a January 2029 construction deadline in view, the pace of those talks is likely to quicken in the coming months as governments and companies work to finalise terms.
