“We must call this a national crisis,” Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said in April, speaking about new U.S. tariffs. “The government will do its utmost to respond to this crisis, involving the entire country.”
Since then, Japanese politicians and business people ― and, to a certain extent, the public — have largely stood with the prime minister’s call for unity. They have been supportive, or at least silent, as the government has taken a firm stance in talks with the United States.
But after seven rounds of fruitless negotiations and a subsequent letter from U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday indicating that most Japanese goods exported to the U.S. will be subject to higher duties than originally expected, the united front has started to show some cracks.
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