When the Japanese PM visited, shortly after the inauguration, TIG announced that the Japanese had agreed to invest in a huge nat gas project in Alaska. But then TIG whacked Japanese goods with a tariff anyway.
Since then, apparently South Korea and Taiwan, have also expressed interest in investing in the project, but they are being whacked with tariffs too.
Interestingly, this article mentions that the project has been on the table for decades, but the eye-watering cost, some $40B, puts the project’s cost effectiveness in question.
So, it is an open question whether USian tariffs are being used to cram an uneconomic project down people’s throats. I guess it’s good to have friends in the right places.
Steve