It is not believed that in the present state of political opinion the United States government is capable of declaring war against Japan without more ado; and it is barely possible that vigorous action on our part might lead the Japanese to modify their attitude. Therefore the following course of action is suggested: […] G. Insist that the Dutch refuse to grant Japanese demands for undue economic concessions, particularly oil H. Completely embargo all U.S. trade with Japan, in collaboration with a similar embargo imposed by the British Empire If by these means Japan could be led to commit an overt act of war, so much the better. At all events we must be fully prepared to accept the threat of war.

The Eight-Action plan in the McCollum memo, 1940 (The Eight-Action Plan was a set of suggestions made during WWII on how to provoke the Japanese to attack the US as a justification to enter the war)