US rattles sabre on trade

Yen and dollar: A stock indicator showing the foreign exchange rate of the yen against the US dollar and euro in Tokyo. Tokyo stocks rebounded slightly in a rollercoaster session yesterday after Wall Street finished the previous day with solid gains following a global rout. — AFP

SEOUL: A year after US President Donald Trump took office, heightened rhetoric out of Washington about unfair trade has kept Asian policymakers reluctant to openly talk down their currencies despite the dollar’s slump to multi-year lows.

Instead, central banks are looking at subtler ways to rein in their currencies as sustained weakness in the dollar erodes the competitiveness of many exporting nations.