Japan walks line between recession and submission as it seeks to overcome Trump tariffs

It all seemed to be going so well. In April, Japan's chief trade negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, sat opposite Donald Trump in the Oval Office after "positive and constructive" talks, sporting a Maga baseball cap and giving a thumbs up for the cameras. Japan's economic revitalisation minister drew criticism back home for the gesture, forcing him to insist there was "no political significance" behind it. But the backdrop to the offending photo was far more significant than the uncomfortable optics. Akazawa's trade delegation was in Washington to begin tariff negotiations with its American counterparts that officials in Tokyo were initially optimistic…