If Japan can't get a good trade deal, can anyone?

Talks between Tokyo and the Trump administration are about to get under way—and the world should be watching.

- Gearoid Reidy

Japanese officials are heading to Washington for tariff talks, and the stakes are high—not just for Tokyo, but also for the rest of the world.

The Asian nation is the canary in the tariff coal mine. If it can't secure a good deal, there's little hope for others.

Mr Ryosei Akazawa, Minister for Economic Revitalisation and a long-time ally of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, is leading the negotiating team and says there's no point in anything other than a win-win deal that boosts the interests of both countries.

As a key security ally, Japan is in a better position than perhaps any other country to secure that, particularly the more the Trump administration hardens its stance on China. The world will be watching to see if the promised "first mover advantage" materialises, with Australia, Britain, India and South Korea among those next in line to make their pitch.

But remarks from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who will lead the US delegation, suggest the potential for fireworks. "Japan remains among America's closest allies," Mr Bessent acknowledged. But in noting that the talks will include not only tariffs but also "non-tariff trade barriers, currency issues and government subsidies", he may be laying the groundwork for a comprehensive airing of grievances—real and imagined—that the Trump administration harbours.

Once seen through a 1980s lens as a protectionist nation, Japan is now a champion of free trade, rescuing the Trans-Pacific Partnership when Mr Trump abandoned it in his first term and helping lead the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership that covers trade across much of Asia.