— Reuters
TOKYO: Japan does not manipulate the currency market to weaken the yen, Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato has told Parliament, countering accusations from US President Donald Trump that Japan intentionally depreciates its currency to help exporters.
The remarks came ahead of Kato’s scheduled visit to Washington this week, where he may hold a bilateral meeting with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on the sidelines of the G20 finance leaders’ gathering and spring International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetings.
The bilateral talks, if held, will be the primary venue in which Japan and the United States will discuss the thorny topic of exchange rates as part of broader tariff negotiations that kicked off last Wednesday.
“Japan does not manipulate the currency market to intentionally weaken the yen, as seen by the fact our latest action was to conduct yen-buying intervention,” Kato told lawmakers when asked about Trump’s comments criticising Japan for giving its exports a trade advantage by weakening the yen.
While saying he was aware the United States was interested in discussing exchange-rate matters, Kato declined to comment on what could actually be debated.
He also said no date has been fixed yet on the possible meeting with Bessent.
The yen’s recent gains have been driven in part by market expectations the United States may press Japan to join a coordinated effort to weaken the US dollar and help narrow its huge trade deficit.
In March, Trump said he told the leaders of Japan and China they could not continue to reduce the value of their currencies, as doing so would be unfair to the United States.
Bessent has also said he was looking forward to discussions with Japan on tariff, non-tariff barriers and exchange rates.
Japan’s top trade negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, said exchange rates did not come up last Wednesday’s trade talks with the Untied States, adding that both sides deferred to an earlier agreement between their leaders that currency matters would be set aside for talks between their finance chiefs.
“If the US side desires, Finance Minister Kato will likely engage in discussions on exchange rates,” Akazawa told a news conference last Friday, adding that any discussion between the two countries’ finance chiefs on currency rates will be part of a broader package of the bilateral trade deal.
Akazawa’s remark has shifted the market’s attention to Kato’s possible meeting with Bessent this week, which would be the first face-to-face talks between the two finance chiefs.
Policymakers around the world will gather in Washington for the spring IMF meetings that will take place from today through April 26. — Reuters
