June 29, 2026
TOKYO – The threat of a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz following a U.S. attack on Iran exposed the vulnerability of ASEAN’s oil stockpiling system.
If crude oil supplies to Southeast Asian nations are disrupted, the supply of petrochemical products, automotive parts, semiconductors, electronic components, medical gloves, agricultural products and other goods — produced in those countries and exported to Japan — would plummet, dealing a blow to the daily lives and economy of Japan.
For this reason, the Japanese government launched in April the Partnership on Wide Energy and Resources Resilience Asia, or POWERR Asia, designed to support Asian countries in strengthening their supply chains for crude oil and petroleum products and improving their stockpiling systems.
Rather than the traditional one-way cooperation from Japan, this initiative also aims to strengthen Japan’s own supply chains by supporting the enhancement of energy security in Asia. It is a framework that can be described as a win-win, broad-based industrial policy between Japan and ASEAN.
The United States and China are vying for economic hegemony over ASEAN. However, a Japanese trade official noted that “following last year’s ‘Trump tariffs,’ ASEAN has rapidly shifted its alignment from the U.S. and China toward Japan.” The official further pointed out that dependence on and trust in Japan have grown even stronger in the wake of the Strait of Hormuz crisis.
In fact, from early on Japan included provisions regarding supply chains for resources and food in its bilateral FTAs with Southeast Asian countries.
Japan relies on Indonesia and Brunei for liquefied natural gas, and its FTAs with both countries — which took effect in 2008 — include provisions for policy transparency. The FTA with Australia, which took effect in 2015, includes provisions for the stable supply of not only resources such as LNG, iron ore and coal but food as well.
“At the time, China had begun racing to secure resources globally, raising concerns about a scramble for them,” said Prof. Kunihiko Shinoda of the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, who led the FTA negotiations as a bureaucrat at the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry.
Shinoda explained that the aim of the FTA provisions was to ensure policy transparency in light of the intensification of resource nationalism, such as stricter export controls by resource-rich countries.
Japan plans to revise its Economic Partnership Agreement — an FTA with ASEAN — to include provisions for strengthening supply chain resilience. “We also want to include provisions that emphasize discipline, such as deterring unfair export restrictions,” said a trade official.
Now is a good opportunity for Japan to strengthen economic security ties with ASEAN and further deepen the relationship of trust. Working in coordination with ASEAN, Japan must take a strong lead in establishing free trade rules in Asia.