Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato drew attention by mentioning that the country’s more than $1.1 trillion in U.S. Treasury bonds could potentially be a “card on the table” in negotiations with Washington over Trump’s steep tariffs on autos and other imports.

U.S. equity futures nudged higher in early Friday trading as comments from China suggesting its open to trade talks that offset the impact tariffs are likely have on the profits of tech giants Apple and Amazon.