“First, you treat allies as allies,” U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel said in a phone interview Tuesday. “Second, you begin to make a down payment on both climate and standing up for a rules-based system by recognizing non-market forces like China have wreaked havoc.” 

The deal on steel tariffs comes as the U.S. seeks to redefine its role in how trade policy is made in Asia following Trump’s rejection of the Trans-Pacific Partnership regional trade pact his country once spearheaded. While China joined the less-demanding Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership  group and is now seeking access to TPP, Biden has so far provided few details of an Indo-Pacific economic framework meant to boost regional ties.

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Biden was quick to let Japan know it was a top priority, sending his new defense and foreign secretaries to Tokyo as a part of their first overseas mission. The effort to steady the ship came after Trump tested America’s most powerful partner in Asia with threats to impose further punitive measures on Japan’s auto exports, demands it pay as much as five times more to host American troops, while accusing Tokyo of being a freeloader on national security.

“Mr. Biden and his camp have always criticized Mr. Trump’s position on trade,” said Ichiro Fujisaki, a former Japanese ambassador to the U.S. “So I think it was time that they would start to take counter-measures.” 

A close associate of Biden and former Chicago mayor, Emanuel arrived in Japan to take up his post last month. That ended a period of two-and-a-half years with no ambassador in place following the departure of Trump ally William Hagerty, who was later elected to the U.S. Senate.

The choice of Emanuel, known for his aggressive style of politics, raised a few eyebrows in Japan and worries of fresh friction. But since coming to Tokyo, he has taken to Twitter to show U.S. support for Japan in matters such as a long-standing territorial dispute with Russia and posted photos of himself standing shoulder-to-shoulder with top cabinet members.