George Glass, the United States’ new ambassador to Japan, has voiced optimism about looming negotiations regarding the onerous tariffs imposed on the U.S. ally by President Donald Trump, as Japanese officials gear up for talks this week.

Glass, who is expected to arrive in Japan as early as this week, will make his way to the country as Washington and Tokyo are set to kick off negotiations following Trump’s sudden backtrack on so-called reciprocal tariffs last Wednesday.

The new ambassador, 64, told a reception hosted by the Japanese Embassy in Washington on Friday that the U.S. side was “well prepared” and “very optimistic" about the talks.

Washington’s new envoy to Tokyo has largely signaled that he will aim to bring Trump’s policies to fruition, pledging during his confirmation hearings to have “tough conversations” on the tariffs and the allies’ trade deficit.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has set up a task force headed by his close aide, economy minister Ryosei Akazawa, to oversee the trade negotiations.

Trump on Wednesday paused his reciprocal tariffs — which would have taken Japan's rate to 24% — for 90 days. But a baseline 10% tariff, which entered into force on April 5, will remain in place for almost all goods imported into the United States, including those from Japan.

New tariffs on vehicles, steel and aluminum products already effective are also still in force, while a new auto parts tariff is set to be implemented on May 3. Japan has been strongly urging Washington to reconsider the new tariffs that have not been halted.

On Sunday, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s policy chief, Itsunori Onodera, stressed that Japanese carmakers would be among the biggest impacted by the tariffs.

“It’s important to stick to our guns” on this issue, he told an NHK television program, adding that the Japanese side should “strongly advocate” for the measures’ removal, but stress also that the U.S., too, would face pain if they are left in place.

“It’s clear that the U.S. is in trouble, so I think the conversation should start with us saying, ‘maybe it would be better to stop?’” Onodera said.

Whatever the case, Ishiba has indicated that results from the first round of negotiations would not be immediate.

“We are asking President Trump to eliminate tariff measures, but it will take some time,” NHK quoted Ishiba as telling a meeting with manufacturing industry executives in Kobe on Sunday.

The tariff issue is far from the only challenge Glass, who served as Trump’s envoy to Portugal during the president’s first administration, will face after arriving in Tokyo.

The new ambassador will have large shoes to fill as he takes over from Rahm Emanuel, a confidant of Democratic former President Joe Biden who helped nudge and sometimes spearhead a number of key moves to upgrade bilateral ties — especially in the defense arena.

On that subject, Glass has said that he will "undoubtedly" need to press Japan to contribute more money for hosting American troops.

“Whether we have weapons systems that we need to upgrade, command-and-control that we're going to be upgrading along with the Japanese, these are very expensive ventures,” Glass told his confirmation hearing last month. “And so undoubtedly, I do believe we're going to have to go to the Japanese and talk about an increase in that support.”

He has also pledged to hold Tokyo to its promise to extend "the upward trajectory of its defense budget." Japan is currently aiming to spend 2% of its gross domestic product on defense by fiscal 2027 as part of a five-year, ¥43 trillion plan announced in 2022. Surpassing the 2% threshold had long been seen as taboo among some in ostensibly pacifist Japan.

Trump has a long history of criticizing the U.S.-Japan alliance as an unfair partnership, saying as recently as Thursday that the 1960 security treaty with Tokyo is “one-sided,”

Glass, meanwhile, said Friday that "the most important part” of the alliance “is the friendship," with the new ambassador adding that he hoped to travel extensively throughout Japan with his wife, Mary.