Japan will pump $20 billion in funding into two new semiconductor facilities in the US as part of a trade agreement between the two countries, with GlobalFoundries selected to operate the sites.

The move forms part of a wider trade deal between the countries for Japan to invest $550 billion in return for the US lowering tariffs of Japanese goods.

GlobalFoundries will build the new sites at its Malta, New York, campus with the initiative designed to accelerate trusted semiconductor manufacturing in the US, strengthen critical supply chains and support growing demand across automotive, industrial and connected infrastructure markets.

Japan will make an initial investment of approximately $10 billion, accelerating construction of a new 300mm semiconductor fab which is expected to come online in 2029. It will add approximately 900,000 wafers of annual manufacturing capacity when fully operational.

An additional $10 billion will fund a second fab, which will produce the same amount of wafers. The entire project is expected to create about 27,000 construction and ecosystem jobs and more than 1,000 highly skilled manufacturing jobs in New York’s Capital Region.

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GlobalFoundries has also agreed a deal with the US Commerce Department to amend an existing award under the CHIPS and Science Act to reallocate $995 million towards investments in silicon photonics and other areas. This will expand manufacturing capacity for technologies “increasingly critical to communications infrastructure and data centres”.

As part of a separate arrangement, the US government will receive approximately 4% equity in GlobalFoundries, taking its total stake to 7%.

Tom Breen, CEO of GlobalFoundries said the initiative was a bold new step for semiconductor manufacturing, bringing together the US and Japan with differentiated technology and decades of manufacturing expertise.

Howard Lutnick, US secretary of commerce added President Donald Trump’s historic US, Japan trade deal “is delivering another massive manufacturing investment into America”.

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AT&T sealed a deal worth $2 billion to sell its business in Mexico to Grupo Televisa and Fintech Holdings, ending a decade long battle to gain ground in the country that is dominated by Carlos Slim’s America Movil.

AT&T stated the sale represents another step in a wider strategy to prioritise investment in US fibre and wireless networks, an area where it continues to make “meaningful progress”.

The US operator entered Mexico in 2015 following major regulatory reform, acquiring operators Iusacell and Nextel for a total $4.4 billion, which it merged to establish the AT&T Mexico brand.

It decided to offload the business last year and a $2 billion deal was mooted by Bloomberg.

In its statement, AT&T claimed it had grown the business into one of the country’s leading providers, and it believes Grupo Televisa and Fintech Holdings are well positioned to lead it through the next phase of growth.

Both companies will take an equal share in AT&T Mexico and means Grupo Televisa will become the first provider in the country to offer mobile, internet, pay-TV and fixed line services.

America Movil owned Telcel has around a 58% market share, while AT&T Mexico has around 16% with 24.7 million wireless subscribers as of 31 December 2025.

John Stankey, AT&T chairman and CEO, said it had articulated a strong belief that the AI future will run on converged networks and dense fibre assets.

“This move positions AT&T Mexico to participate in that evolution and is consistent with our long-term strategy to focus our capital allocation on opportunities for growth in the vibrant US market,” he added.

The deal is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2027 following regulatory approvals.

Telefonica also sold off its business in Mexico, striking a $450 million deal with a consortium of investors in April.

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