[In 1940, t]he United States placed an embargo on scrap-metal shipments to Japan and closed the Panama Canal to Japanese shipping.That hit Japan’s economy particularly hard because 74.1% of Japan’s scrap iron came from the United States in 1938, and 93% of Japan’s copper in 1939 came from the United States… Responding to Japanese occupation of key airfields in Indochina (July 24) after an agreement between Japan and Vichy France, the U.S. froze Japanese assets on July 26, 1941, and on August 1, it established an embargo on oil and gasoline exports to Japan.[15][16][17] The oil embargo was an especially strong response because oil was Japan’s most crucial import, and more than 80% of Japan’s oil came from the United States.

The U.S. wasn’t exactly out of the way: it was a huge trade partner that was shutting down all sorts of key commerce in response to Japan’s expansion. A conflict was as inevitable as it gets.