Despite calls to resist protectionism and for the United States to rejoin a multilateral trans-Pacific trade pact, Japan is gradually shifting gear to adjust to a trade environment shaken up by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Japan ramped up its warning over the damage protectionism could inflict on the global economy, with Finance Minister Taro Aso saying this week that inward-looking policies would destabilize markets and benefit no country.
Tokyo also sought to play down the rift emerging between Washington and its Group of 20 counterparts, with one official saying the proceedings on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings this week were "hardly contentious."