Trade minister Ryosei Akazawa will travel to Washington on Wednesday to discuss the first project to be financed by Japan as part of a $550 billion commitment made in the course of trade negotiations last year.

He will hold discussions with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on ¡°structuring a first project,¡± Akazawa said Tuesday.

Negotiators from Japan and the United States have held four online discussions since December about implementation of the $550 billion pledge. No announcements about specific projects have been made by either country.

As part of a trade deal reached on July 22, Japan agreed to commit $550 billion to critical industries and technologies in the United States, in exchange for lower tariffs on Japanese automobiles and other products.

Under the terms of a memorandum of understanding signed in early September, projects are recommended by an investment committee chaired by Lutnick, before being approved by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Japan will provide input on the feasibility of candidate projects through a consultation process before the projects are presented to the president. All investments need to be made before Trump¡¯s term in office ends.

Japanese media have reported over the past week that Japan and the United States are ironing out the details of three shortlisted projects: a $40 billion power plant for data centers involving SoftBank Group and GE Vernova, a $2 billion deepwater port for crude oil exports, and a $500 million synthetic diamond plant.

Akazawa will return to Japan on Saturday.

On Tuesday, he declined to comment on any of the press reports regarding specific projects and declined to say whether any sort of announcement related to the $550 billion pledge will be made during his trip to Washington.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi plans to visit the White House next month and meet with Trump, who endorsed Takaichi ahead of the recent Lower House election.