Japanese company SoftBank plans to invest $100 billion in the United States

WASHINGTON, D.C. — US President-elect Donald Trump on Monday congratulated Japan’s SoftBank for its decision to invest $100 billion in the United States and create 100,000 new jobs, a big victory for his new administration.

“This historic investment is a monumental demonstration of confidence in America’s future,” Trump said at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, alongside SoftBank CEO, Masayoshi Son.

“This will help ensure that artificial intelligence, emerging technologies and other industries of tomorrow are built, created and grown right here in the United States,” added Trump, who will succeed US President Joe Biden next month.

INVESTMENT President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago on December 16, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida, while SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son (R) and Howard Lutnick (left), candidate for Commerce Secretary, listen. AP PHOTO

Speaking alongside Trump, Son confirmed the investment firm’s financial commitment, adding that Trump’s victory had “significantly increased” his confidence in the US economy.

“I’m really excited to make this happen,” he added.

Second commitment

Son’s announcement is about double the amount he pledged to SoftBank in December 2016, shortly before Trump began his first term as president.

The Japanese investment holding company ultimately parted ways with around $100 billion through its Vision Fund, with much of the money provided by sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

“President Trump is a president who doubles down,” Son said Monday, adding that he will have to double down, too.

Son made his name with successful early investments in Chinese e-commerce titan Alibaba and Internet pioneer Yahoo, but he also bet on disastrous failures such as WeWork.

He has repeatedly said that “artificial superintelligence” will arrive within a decade, bringing new inventions, new drugs, new knowledge and new ways of investing.

SoftBank Group reported a bumper second-quarter net profit last month, returning to the black after net losses in the first quarter and the previous fiscal year.

The company reported in March that it had $26 billion ready to deploy for new investments.

Pricing concerns

Stephen Moore, Donald Trump’s economic adviser, said the announcement marked a “great day.”

“The importation of capital into the United States is a major indicator for future employment and prosperity,” Moore, an economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said in a message to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

During the election campaign, Trump pledged to boost the U.S. economy by cutting red tape and speeding up investment, particularly in the oil and gas sector.

U.S. financial markets surged after his victory on Nov. 5, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the broader S&P 500 both hitting new record highs.

Despite market enthusiasm, some analysts have expressed concern that Trump’s proposals to impose new tariffs on U.S. imports and deport millions of undocumented workers could end up hurting growth and cause an increase in inflation.

“The increased likelihood of substantial new tariffs on U.S. imports would have the most consequential effect on economic growth,” Wells Fargo economists wrote in a recent note to clients, adding that they had “raised ” their inflation outlook and slightly reduced their GDP. product forecasts after Trump’s victory.

Other analysts say the impact of Trump’s tariff plans will largely depend on how they are actually implemented.

“The impact on inflation need not be particularly significant for monetary policy,” Goldman Sachs economists wrote in a recent note to investors.

But they added that “this could change if the White House imposes a universal 10 percent tariff,” referring to one of Trump’s proposals on the campaign trail.

Speaking at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, Trump insisted that, “properly used,” the tariffs would be positive for the U.S. economy.

“Our country is losing to everyone right now,” he said. “Hardly anyone we have a surplus with.”