While Japan won’t walk away from its alliance with the United States, the linchpin of the Asian country’s diplomacy and security policies, “it’s also true that the tariffs and uncertainty that Trump has created for Japan is really shaking things up in Tokyo,” Goodman said.

When Tokyo's top trade negotiator met U.S. President Donald Trump for tariff talks at the White House earlier this month, he presented him with a gold-coloured piggy bank.

Delegations will meet this weekend in Switzerland for the first major talks between the world’s two biggest economies since Trump sparked a tariff war in his second term.