Japan lawmakers warn US tariffs threaten security, not just economic ties, as China looms

Amid US-Japan trade talks under way in Washington, Japanese lawmakers have warned that Donald Trump’s tariffs posed a threat to not just economic partnership but broader strategic cooperation, leaving space for regional rivals like China to expand their clout.

Itsunori Onodera, a former Japanese defence minister who served while the first Trump administration was in office, framed ongoing efforts to come to a trade agreement as a national security challenge.

“We have to think about the linkage of the problem … [The] economy, national security, food security and economic security. All are linked,” said Onodera at an event hosted by the Brookings Institution, a US think tank, on Wednesday.

“This is not only a tariff issue,” he continued, describing “the national security framework and the global framework” as being “greatly impacted”.

Left unresolved, the impact of such an impasse between Washington and one of its most crucial allies in the Indo-Pacific could trigger a cascading effect, Onodera added, as other allies in the region like South Korea and India could be put off at a time when their unity is vital to managing an effective response to China’s ambitions.

The senior lawmaker’s remarks came as a second round of bilateral tariff talks took place in the US capital this week. So far, mixed messages have come out of Tokyo and Washington, triggering uncertainty in Japan and across Asia.

South China Morning Post