President Trump said his administration had made “big progress” with Japan on negotiations for a one-for-one trade deal Wednesday — with the Asian nation the first of dozens expected to engage the administration over the next few weeks.

“A Great Honor to have just met with the Japanese Delegation on Trade. Big Progress!,” the president wrote on Truth Social in the evening, without revealing any details about what went down behind closed doors.

Hours earlier, the president initially disclosed he was meeting with Japanese officials, writing on Truth Social: “Japan is coming in today to negotiate Tariffs, the cost of military support, and ‘TRADE FAIRNESS.'”

“I will attend the meeting, along with Treasury & Commerce Secretaries. Hopefully something can be worked out which is good (GREAT!) for Japan and the USA!”

The Japan talks took place one day after the White House said it had been presented with offers from at least 15 nations for bespoke trade agreements following Trump’s April 9 announcement of a 90-day pause on planned reciprocal tariffs.

More than 75 other countries have reached out to request talks, according to the administration.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who was expected to do the bulk of the talking with Tokyo’s top trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa, has said that countries who move quickly to deal with the US will have a “first mover advantage” in trying to hash out deals.

In addition to Japan, Australia, India, South Korea, Vietnam and the United Kingdom are expected to be the focus of Bessent’s initial efforts. Israel and Vietnam previously offered to zero out their tariff rates, but Trump has been noncommittal as to whether that would be sufficient.

Under Trump’s “Liberation Day” suite of tariffs, Japan was due to be hit with 24% levies on exports to the US. A 10% universal rate still remains in place, as does a 25% duty for cars — a mainstay of Japan’s export economy.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba had said Monday that his country wouldn’t be rushing into a deal — and didn’t plan on making huge concessions, though he has ruled out retaliatory tariffs, at least for now.

The White House previously said it wants to resolve other issues with its close ally, including what Tokyo pays toward the cost of hosting US troops in Japan. It was not immediately clear whether that issue was broached Wednesday.

The Trump administration is seeking to close the $68.5 billion trade deficit with Japan and seeking greater access for US goods in foreign markets, while the president has also insisted that tariff revenues can be used to pay down the federal budget deficit.

News of the sit-down sparked optimism among some economists.

“I’m confident that Japan and the US will be able to work out a good deal that benefits both nations, opens more consumer markets to each other’s exporters, and accounts for the military aid we have provided to Japan for decades,” said EJ Antoni, an economist with the Heritage Foundation.

“These negotiations are ultimately about making trade more free, not less. It’s also imperative that we continue isolating China from its geographical and economic neighbors, making Japan a key early ally in this process.”

“The difficulty for the Japanese team is that the United States has created a huge amount of leverage for itself, unilaterally,” suggested Kurt Tong, a former State Department official and current managing partner at the Asia Group consultancy firm.

“The US is offering to not hit Japan with sticks, and Japan is stuck in a position of offering a whole lot of carrots. And from their perspective, it feels like economic coercion.”

With Post wires