The head of the global trade watchdog says global free trade is facing a “crisis” as U.S. President Donald Trump disrupts world commerce with his fast-changing tariffs and other policies.

Among all U.S. allies being wooed by Beijing in its tariff stare-down with Washington, Japan stands out as a peculiar case.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba says his country and the Philippines will start talks on two proposed defense pacts to further boost their security alliance and would continue to fight aggression in disputed Asian waters in an obvious rebuke of China.

President Donald Trump can’t stop contradicting himself on his own tariff plans.

The new U.S. ambassador to Japan says he is optimistic that his country and its key Asian ally will reach a deal in their ongoing tariff negotiations.

After saying earlier in the day that he was “in no rush” to finish trade deals, President Donald Trump said he thought he could wrap up tariff talks “over the next three or four weeks.”.

Japan recorded a trade deficit for the fiscal year that just ended but racked up a $63 billion surplus with the United States.

The Expo 2025 has opened in Osaka with more than 10,000 people singing Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony to celebrate the start of the six-month event.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has attended the opening ceremony for Expo 2025 Osaka and expressed his hope that the event will help restore global unity in a world is plagued by conflicts and trade wars.

U.S. stocks soared to one of their best days in history on a euphoric Wall Street after President Donald Trump said he would back off on most of his tariffs temporarily.

The White House is sending mixed messages on tariffs as it pursues conflicting goals, frustrating foreign leaders and business executives who are desperate for clarity on a generational overhaul of international trade.

As President Donald Trump and China spar over tariff hikes and other retaliatory moves, governments elsewhere are brainstorming over strategies for coping with the trade war between the world’s top two economies.

U.S. stocks dropped after a second day of stunning reversals.

China hit back with a stiff import tax on US goods as countries and industries around the world weighed their responses to President Donald Trump’s latest tariffs hikes that are roiling global trade and world markets.

Export manufacturing and free trade helped transform China and other Asian countries into economic powerhouses.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba says his government is making last ditch efforts to get U.S. President Donald Trump to exclude his country from an increase in auto tariffs due to take effect this week.

U_S_ stocks swerved through another shaky day of trading, with uncertainty still high about just what President Donald Trump will announce about tariffs on his “Liberation Day.”.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the military to make fitness standards for all combat jobs gender neutral, formalizing a process that largely exists for many of those jobs already.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has swiped at U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to raise tariffs on a wide range of products.

Wall Street edged lower after getting pulled in opposite directions as President Donald Trump’s latest tariff escalation creates winners and losers among auto stocks.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has stressed the importance of free trade and multilateralism and decried threats against democracy as he and Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba agreed to step up ties across the board.

Foreign ministers from Japan, China and South Korea sought common ground in areas like aging, low birth rates, natural disasters and cultural exchange at a meeting that took place at a time of growing tensions.

It's the World Series-champion Los Angeles Dodgers against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Tokyo Dome to start the Major League Baseball season.

Japan's trade minister says he has not gotten assurances from U.S. officials that the key U.S. ally will be exempt from higher tariffs, some of which effect on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump says his administration will ensure a major natural gas pipeline in Alaska gets built.

President Donald Trump greeted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House with a bear hug and called him a “a great friend of mine,” but nonetheless warned that India won’t be spared from higher tariffs he’s begun imposing on U.S. trade partners around the world.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has said an elevated U.S. security partnership with South Korea and Japan poses a grave threat to his country and vowed to further bolster his nuclear weapons program.

President Donald Trump is suggesting that Nippon Steel will no longer buy U.S. Steel as planned, but the Japanese company will instead invest in the symbolically important American business.

The Pentagon will deploy roughly 1,500 more active duty soldiers to the southern border to support President Donald Trump’s expanding crackdown on immigration.

The Pentagon will deploy roughly 1,500 more active duty soldiers to the southern border to support President Trump’s expanding crackdown on immigration, a U.S. official said Friday.

President Donald Trump says he wants to slash the U.S. trade deficit with Japan.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, struggling to stabilize his minority government, says he will seek to maintain regional security and prepare for tough negotiations with U.S. President Donald Trump to win his commitment to maintain a strong American presence in the Asia-Pacific.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is visiting Malaysia and Indonesia as part of his effort to further strengthen defense and economic ties with Southeast Asia as threats from China rise in the region.

President Joe Biden's decision to reject a bid by Nippon Steel to acquire U.S. Steel isn't the first time friction over trade and investment has irked Washington's closest ally in Asia.

Nippon Steel Chief Executive Eiji Hashimoto says the top Japanese steelmaker is standing firm on its proposed $15 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel.

Some 70 countries that are home to half the world’s population held elections in 2024, and voters' message was often: “You’re fired.”.

South Korean officials are investigating the crash landing of a passenger jet that's one of the deadliest disasters in that nation's aviation history.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has met with officials in Japan to reaffirm the importance of their alliance and Washington's commitment to regional security as threats rise from China and North Korea.

Sake is perhaps even more Japanese than the world-famous sushi.

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s stunning martial law declaration lasted just hours but has cast doubt on his ability to govern for the remaining 2 1/2 years of his term and whether he will abide by democratic principles.

Japan’s embattled Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who survived as leader after a major election loss by his governing coalition, is promising to work closely with the long-ignored opposition that is now the only way his minority government can stay in power.

Japan racked up a trade deficit in October for the fourth month in a row, as a weak yen and rising energy prices kept import costs high.

Some have called it the “super year” for elections.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum has wrapped up with a spirit of detente that many fear the annual summit may not see again for four years.

China’s leader Xi Jinping met for the last time with U_S_ President Joe Biden but was already looking ahead to President-elect Donald Trump and his “America first” policies, saying Beijing “is ready to work with a new administration.”.

President Joe Biden praised the cooperation between South Korea, Japan and the U_S_ at countering what he described as North Korea’s “dangerous and destabilizing cooperation with Russia.”.

President Joe Biden is beginning a six-day visit to Peru and Brazil for the final major international summits of his presidency.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has survived a runoff vote against the opposition but will face turmoil ahead amid anger over the ruling party’s financial scandals.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has pledged to take tougher measures against misuse of political funds after he was reelected by parliament following a major loss in the polls last month by his governing coalition.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s ruling coalition has lost a majority in the 465-seat lower house in a key parliamentary election Sunday.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s ruling party, dogged by corruption scandals and plunging support for his weeks-old government, faces its toughest challenge in decades in Sunday’s parliamentary election.

For many Japanese survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and their relatives, Friday’s awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to a Japanese organization against nuclear weapons gives them hope for a new momentum to push for a nuclear-free world.

New Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has dissolved the lower house of parliament to set up an Oct. 27 snap election.

New Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has opened his first policy speech in office by expressing deep regrets over the governing party’s slush funds scandal that dogged his predecessor.

U.S. stocks rallied after a surprisingly strong U.S. jobs report raised optimism about the economy.

Crude prices jumped on worries about worsening tensions in the Middle East, while U.S. stocks pulled back further from their records.

Japan’s new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is pledging to stick to the vital Japan-U.S. alliance while calling for it to be more equitable.

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will resign Tuesday, handing over leadership to his successor Shigeru Ishiba, who says he plans to call a snap election for Oct. 27.

Wall Street closed its latest winning month and quarter with more records.

The person chosen to lead Japan’s governing party, and become prime minister next week, is a veteran politician with deep policy experience, a taste for curry and anime — and big challenges ahead of him as he tries to unite a fractious party and hold off an opposition eager to capitalize on recent corruption scandals.

Japan’s governing party has picked former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba as its leader, setting him up to become prime minister next week.

Japan's governing party will pick a new leader Friday who will succeed outgoing Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

A record nine Japanese lawmakers have formally entered the race to replace outgoing Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as head of the governing party and leader of the nation, hoping to regain public support for the party following corruption scandals.

Japan will have a new leader after outgoing Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s governing Liberal Democratic Party holds a vote on Sept. 27 to choose his replacement.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says China will not be able to isolate Taiwan by preventing U.S. officials from traveling there.

Japan's Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election candidate and Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga attends a debate ahead of the LDP's leadership election, in Tokyo Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020. The party plans a vote on Sept. 14 to choose Shinzo Abe's replacement as party chief. (Charly Triballeau/Pool Photo via AP)TOKYO – Yoshihide Suga is poised to win Japan's ruling party leadership vote on Monday, virtually guaranteeing him parliamentary election as the country's next prime minister. The expected victory in the party vote by Suga, currently the chief Cabinet secretary, all but guarantees his election in a parliamentary vote because of the majority held by the Liberal Democrats' ruling coalition. The voting by nearly 400 ruling party lawmakers begins later Monday, with results expected within hours.

He said the new government will compile a revised defense policy by the end of the year. The ability to carry out preemptive strikes would be a significant shift in the defense policy Japan has followed since the end of World War II. Since taking power in 2012, Abe has expanded Japan’s defense budget and capabilities and has sought to expand its role in international peacekeeping and in the Japan-U.S. security alliance. In 2015, he adopted a new interpretation of the constitution's war-renouncing Article 9 to include the United States in its self defense in a concept of so-called collective self defense. A revision of the defense policy allowing such weapons, however, could be a challenge.

(Kim Kyung-hoon/Pool Photo via AP)TOKYO The official campaigning to lead Japan's ruling party began Tuesday with the longtime right-hand man of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe now seen as a top candidate and his likely successor to lead the government. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yosihide Suga, 71, had formally submitted his candidacy for the Liberal Democratic Party leadership last week. The winner of the in-party vote on Sept. 14 will eventually become Japans next prime minister because of the ruling blocs majority in the parliament. Suga pledged to carry out the challenges left behind by Abe, including measures on the coronavirus, the economic fallout and pursuing Japan-U.S. security alliance. Kishida, who is currently serving the party policy chief, says he seeks to be a leader who listens to the peoples voices more carefully than Abe and prioritize economic policies to address disparities.

Executives of Abes ruling Liberal Democratic Party met Tuesday and decided that the Sept. 14 vote for party leader and with it almost assuredly prime minister will be limited to lawmakers and not broader members of the party. ___FUMIO KISHIDA: Abe's foreign minister from 2012-2017, the 63-year-old Kishida had once been considered the party's preferred choice to become the next prime minister. ___SHIGERU ISHIBA: A former defense minister seen as Abes archrival within the party, the 63-year-old Ishiba is the publics favorite for the next prime minister in media surveys. Ishiba's vocal criticism of Abe, however, has hurt his popularity among ruling party lawmakers. In addition to defense minister, Ishiba has also held top ministry posts in agriculture and local revitalization.