TOKYO, April 16, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Tokyo's envoy for US tariff talks left for Washington on Wednesday saying he was confident of a "win-win" outcome while protecting Japanese national interests.

Analysts said the result of Ryosei Akazawa's visit could set the template for other countries' negotiations with US President Donald Trump's administration.

"I am confident that we will be able to build a relationship of trust and conduct good negotiations that will lead to a win-win relationship," Akazawa, who is economic revitalisation minister, told reporters.

Trump last week paused for 90 days his "reciprocal" duty of 24 percent on Japan, along with differing tariffs on most other nations.

But despite being the biggest investor into the United States, Japan has still been hit with steep levies on imports of its cars, steel and aluminium.

Automaker Honda said Wednesday it will shift production of its hybrid Civic model from Japan to the United States in June or July, but stopped short of saying the reason was US tariffs.

The rationale behind the decision "is not a single issue", a spokesman for the Japanese firm said. "The decision is based on the company's policy since its foundation that we produce cars where the demand is."

The vehicle, however, represents only a small part of the company's annual output.

Akazawa will hold talks with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer during his trip.

Purchases of US defence hardware and natural gas from Alaska could be on the table during the negotiations, analysts said.

The minister, who studied at a US university and is close to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, said he wants to "protect our national interests" in talks with Bessent and Greer, who are "fond of Japan".

The Daiwa Institute of Research warned on Wednesday that Trump's reciprocal tariffs could cause a decline of 1.8 percent in Japan's real GDP by 2029.

US officials are also set to hold talks with South Korea and others, but Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management called the discussions with Japan a "canary in the tariff coal mine".

"If Japan secures a deal -- even a half-baked one -- the template is set. If they walk away empty-handed, brace yourself. Other nations will start pricing in confrontation, not cooperation," he wrote in a newsletter.

And "don't forget the elephant in the vault: Japan's still the biggest holder of US Treasuries. And that, my friend, is a whole lot of leverage", he added.

Top Japanese officials including Ishiba have brushed aside claims that Tokyo may have deliberately created volatility in the US Treasury market to force Trump's pause of reciprocal tariffs, saying that is not what allies would do.