Last month, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross indicated his intention to insert a “poison pill” provision in a new Japan trade act to hinder it's trade with China and other countries under sanctions.
This is a touchy subject because already a third of Japanese companies are being hurt in Trump's trade war with China.

So what did Japan, one of our closest ally, do this past week?

China and Japan have reaffirmed their commitment to deepening bilateral economic and financial ties at an economic forum in Beijing, reaching several potentially far-reaching deals and trade and investment. Economists say the results of this forum could produce longer-term positive consequences for the entire region.

Top Chinese officials and members of the Japanese delegation reached a $28.80-billion currency swap deal during the bilateral forum last week...The agreement is seen as advancing regional trade by increasing the share of regional currencies in multilateral trade and investment. Up to this point, the lion's share of trade in the Far East has been based on the US dollar, rendering the flows of goods and capital exposed to the dollar-yen and dollar-renminbi fluctuations, Federal Reserve policies, and global currency markets.

Uh, did someone mention to Japan that we wanted them to do the exact opposite of that?
In addition to Japan boosting non-dollar trade with its natural trade partner, China, Japan increased non-dollar trade with Russia by 18%.
It's almost like Japan thinks it has an independent foreign policy.

While Japan remains a staunch ally, it is taking a cautious but significant step away from the U.S.
This is monumental, because almost all of Asia has broken out of America's sphere of influence.
Russia, China and Iran were our targets before this year. Pakistan, Turkey, Iraq, Vietnam, and the old Soviet republics rebelled against dollar hegemony this summer. India fell out of our sphere of influence this past month, and is looking to boost trade with China.

Except for Israel and the Persian Gulf, the entire continent of Asia is now largely outside the control of the United States.