Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato has announced that foreign exchange rates were not part of the bilateral trade agreement with the United States. This information was reported by Japan’s Kyodo news agency, based on remarks made by Mr. Kato to reporters at the Ministry of Finance.
Previously, there were widespread expectations that Japan would face pressure to strengthen the Yen against the Dollar. This stemmed from President Donald Trump’s consistent focus on the U.S. trade deficit and his accusations that Japan intentionally maintained a weak Yen to give U.S. manufacturers a competitive advantage.
However, Mr. Kato affirmed that discussions on exchange rates with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent were separate dialogues, unrelated to the trade negotiations on tariffs and and other trade issues.
