Illustration: Xia Qing/GT

"Japan, US to continue tariff negotiations; progress made, but no agreement reached" - The Japan News reported on Monday. Prior to the talks, Japanese media reported that Tokyo planned to propose a China countermeasure package at the tariff negotiations with the US in exchange for tariff exemptions. However, the outcome of the negotiations revealed that not only did such signals and actions fail to yield the desired result, but they also once again exposed Tokyo's awkward position in its dealings with Washington.

For quite some time, some in Japan have fallen into a pattern of thinking that aligning with the US to contain China would earn them "special treatment" from Washington. Yet, at a time when the US is wielding its tariff weapon globally and drawing widespread backlash, this approach not only highlights the rigidity of Japan's diplomatic thinking but also further underscores its lack of strategic autonomy.

Constant concessions and compromises toward the US will not lead to desirable outcomes - a lesson Japan should know all too well. In the 1970s, its semiconductor industry rose swiftly, making the country a global powerhouse in the sector. But from Washington's perspective, Japan's rise in semiconductors - a sector where the US once held a clear advantage - was seen as a threat to US dominance at the high end of the global supply chain.

At that point, the US stopped preaching economic globalization and free trade and instead launched a series of measures to curb Japan's semiconductor industry. These included the 1986 US-Japan Semiconductor Agreement, which forced Japan to accept price controls, production limits and market expansion. US companies like Motorola also filed intellectual property lawsuits against Japanese firms like Hitachi, pressuring the latter to abandon several products already in R&D or on the market. Japan made numerous concessions in response - and what was the result? In the 1990s, the US had largely regained its leading position in the global semiconductor industry - not only by suppressing Japan's rise, but also by strategically adopting elements of Japan's industrial policy in developing key technologies.

Beyond the painful historical lessons, siding with the US protectionist practices also contradicts Japan's long-standing advocacy of multilateralism and free trade. Japan often portrays itself as a champion of these principles, with official government documents repeatedly emphasizing the goal of advancing a free trade area of the Asia-Pacific. Yet, in its negotiations with the US, Japan considered presenting a countermeasure package moving against China - effectively aligning itself with Washington's push to build an exclusive supply chain network. This move clearly violates the WTO's principle of non-discrimination.

Faced with the US threat to impose "reciprocal tariffs" on more than 180 trading partners, Japan, rather than firmly opposing such a move as one of its potential victims, sought to secure its own exemption by sacrificing the interests of others. Such behavior runs counter to the very spirit of multilateralism and free trade and also contradicts Japan's supposedly tough rhetoric regarding the tariff negotiations with the US.

Reports show that as of 2024, Japanese companies have established over 55,000 enterprises in China. Amid prolonged economic stagnation at home, China has provided Japanese companies with valuable opportunities to build factories, expand production capacity, reduce labor costs and earn substantial profits. Against this backdrop, the Japanese government's growing emphasis on economic security in recent years has already harmed the real interests of its own businesses. Taking further steps in US tariff negotiations that undermine China-Japan economic cooperation would be even harder to understand.

Jointly opposing unilateralism, protectionism and economic coercion has become one of the widely shared consensuses in today's international community. In the context of a complex and evolving global landscape, Japan should have a clear understanding of its own national interests and must not retreat from working with other countries to resist protectionism.

The lessons of history are painful enough, and the realities of present-day interests are clear. Such a challenging era calls for deep rationality and strategic foresight. It is hoped that Japan can return to a path of pragmatic reason. Standing on the side of fairness and justice, standing on the right side of history, and firmly defending international trade rules and the multilateral trading system should be a shared commitment for all countries - including Japan.

The author is an associate researcher at China Center for International Economic Exchanges. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn