Japan emerged on Tuesday as the first major economy to secure priority tariff negotiations with Donald Trump, highlighting its status as Washington’s biggest creditor and investor and triggering a 7 per cent surge in Tokyo-listed stocks.

The equity market bounce, which almost fully reversed Monday’s broad collapse of Japanese shares, followed a 25-minute conversation between the US president and Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, in which the leaders agreed to open negotiations.

After the call, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that Japan had treated the US “very poorly” on trade. “They don’t take our cars, but we take MILLIONS of theirs. Likewise Agriculture, and many other ‘things.’ It all has to change, but especially with CHINA!!!”