On March 6th he was forced to defend Prince Andrew, who serves as Britain's special representative for international trade and investment, after the prince's links with Jeffrey Epstein, an American businessman and convicted sex offender, hit the headlines.

ECONOMIST: The government��s foreign missteps are multiplying

They still recall how a hard-nosed Hashimoto, as head of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry in 1995, skillfully upstaged U.S. trade representative Mickey Kantor in televised talks over the thorny issue of trade in auto parts.

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