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.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has reiterated his call to eliminate all tariffs in ongoing trade negotiations with the United States. In a televised interview on Sunday, Ishiba emphasized the mutual benefits of a zero-tariff agreement,

The Bank of Japan predicted growth of just 0.5 percent, cutting its previous forecast in half, and decided against another hike in interest rates.

His remarks echoed comments made on Sunday during his appearance on a Fuji Television program, where he emphasized that Japan's call for the elimination of automobile tariffs remains unchanged. He also noted that Japan differs from the United Kingdom in terms of trade and investment relationships with the US.

Japan's service-sector sentiment worsened in April on concern over the impact of higher U.S. tariffs, a government survey showed on Monday, a sign uncertainty over trade talks with Washington was beginning to take a toll on the fragile economy.

Tokyo aims to use technical assistance in shipbuilding as a bargaining chip to ease US tariffs, as Japan faces a 25% tariff on auto exports and a 24% tariff on various other goods. China currently leads global ship construction with a 48.9% market share, followed by South Korea with 28.5% and Japan with 15.6%, according to Japanese government data.

Tariffs could cost Japan's second-largest automaker up to 650 billion yen this financial year—equivalent to $4.4 billion and almost half last year’s profit. Reporting results Tuesday, Honda forecast a roughly two-thirds slide in operating profit for the year through March 2026,

Japan's wholesale inflation hit 4.0% in April as companies continued to pass on rising raw material and labour costs, data showed, underscoring price pressure that will likely keep the central bank on course to raise interest rates further.