Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has expressed deep concern after US President Donald Trump’s administration imposed fresh sanctions targeting the International Criminal Court (ICC), escalating a campaign against the Hague-based tribunal and complicating Tokyo’s efforts to maintain close relations with Washington.
The US Treasury Department was ordered on Friday to add the entire court to its Specially Designated Nationals list, exposing entities doing business with the ICC to financial penalties. The decision goes beyond earlier sanctions against individual officials, including ICC President Tomoko Akane, a Japanese national, and threatens to extend the financial consequences of Washington’s campaign against the institution.
Takaichi responded late on Friday with statements in Japanese and English, describing the US move as incompatible with Japan’s position. “Japan has consistently attached great importance to upholding the rule of law in the international community and supports the International Criminal Court,” she wrote on X, noting that she had expressed the same position in an address to the United Nations General Assembly and a policy speech to parliament.
“We will continue to reach out to the United States and extend necessary support to the ICC so that the Court can fulfil its role and functions as originally envisaged,” she added.
The response comes after Takaichi faced criticism in August for what opponents described as a weak reaction to US sanctions against Akane and a senior ICC trial lawyer. Those measures freeze assets under US jurisdiction and largely prohibit American individuals and companies from conducting transactions with the targeted parties. Because many internationally active banks maintain links to the US financial system, such restrictions can effectively exclude sanctioned individuals and organisations from much of the global financial system.
Takaichi rejected criticism of her earlier response, saying her government had pressed Washington at various levels until the last moment to prevent sanctions against Akane. During a meeting with Trump last month, she was believed to have discreetly reiterated Japan’s support for the ICC. The two leaders agreed to leave the matter to discussions between Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Japan has also joined eight other ICC member states in a joint statement expressing regret and strong disagreement with the latest US action. However, Tokyo faces competing diplomatic priorities: it hosts approximately 60,000 US service members and depends on the United States for its national security. Any stronger opposition to Washington’s campaign therefore risks complicating a relationship central to Japan’s defence policy.
The ICC condemned the sanctions as “an assault on the rule of law and on the very foundations of the international legal order”, adding that the measures challenged the principle that no one stands above the law.
Akane described the announcement in a video message as a “historically unprecedented move” and an attack on victims of mass atrocities who had waited years, sometimes decades, for those responsible to be held accountable. “Every measure taken against the court is ultimately felt by those victims,” she said.
She called on governments and other supporters of the international legal system to defend the institution, arguing that the dispute extended beyond the court itself. “All of us must make a choice now between the world where might is right, or the future based on the rule of law, where victims can continue to access justice,” she said.
The US administration has long accused the ICC of unfairly targeting the United States and Israel. Washington argues that the court should not exercise jurisdiction over American citizens, including border patrol agents, military personnel and elected leaders.
Rubio reinforced that position in a video released on Friday. “Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC,” he said, warning that the administration would continue efforts to dismantle the institution unless its concerns were addressed.
The US State Department has established a six-month grace period before the latest sanctions take effect. It said the interval was intended to give ICC member states time to demonstrate meaningful progress towards diplomatic and legal solutions addressing fundamental American concerns.
Rubio said Washington had delayed the decision for more than a year out of respect for its international relationships, but argued that neither the court nor its member states had taken sufficient action. He said the grace period offered an opportunity for negotiations and called on American allies that belong to the ICC to rein in the institution.
“If they do not, the United States will continue its campaign to dismantle the ICC, brick by brick, until Americans are threatened no longer,” Rubio said.
