Again, that was a trade sanction that Japan deserved with their barbaric empire building in China and Southeast Asia and trying to control the seas in that area.
If you recall correctly, the US and Japan were still having talks about those trade sanctions/embargoes when the Emperor of Japan ordered Yamamoto to a first military strike on American soil. There was NO first American military aggression. We were still negotiating when they attacked Pearl.
One of the biggest mistakes ever made by a cruel imperialistic nation.
The US was using their fleet as a deterrent against oil shipments. No, there wasn't open aggression going on - but it resulted in a large decrease in oil being available to Japan. You could easily call it passive aggression.