Japan, U.S. Finance Chiefs Affirm Cooperation over Forex

Tokyo, May 12 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said Tuesday that she and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent affirmed cooperation regarding foreign exchange market developments at their meeting in Tokyo the same day. “We shared the view that Japan and the United States are cooperating very well” over the currency market, Katayama told a press conference after the meeting, suggesting that she obtained U.S. understanding for Japanese authorities’ yen-buying, dollar-selling interventions conducted since late April to correct the yen’s sharp depreciation. “We agreed to continue working closely together” based on a joint statement issued last September by Bessent and then Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato, Katayama said. The Japanese side “gained full understanding” from Washington, she added. The document showed tolerance of interventions to combat “excess volatility and disorderly movements” in foreign exchange rates. Katayama and Bessent also exchanged views on economic measures in Japan and the United States. “(Neither of us) pointed out any problems, including on spending,” Katayama said. Meanwhile, she declined to comment on whether the Japanese and U.S. finance chiefs discussed the Bank of Japan’s monetary policy. This is the first Katayama-Bessent meeting since they held talks in Washington in April. At Tuesday’s meeting, they confirmed the importance of responding in unison to the threat of cyberattacks on financial institutions using cutting-edge artificial intelligence tools, such as Claude Mythos, developed by Anthropic of the United States. They also discussed how Japan, the United States, European countries and other like-minded nations should strengthen supply chains for important minerals for which China holds an overwhelming share. “I was pleased to reaffirm the strong economic partnership between the United States and Japan,” Bessent said in a post on X after the meeting. “The level of communication and coordination between our teams in addressing undesirable, excess volatility in currency markets continues to be constant and robust.” Later on Tuesday, Bessent met with Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Ryosei Akazawa. They agreed to reinforce Japan-U.S. cooperation in the fields of energy and key minerals while reconfirming that Japan and the United States will steadily put into action the agreements they reached last year regarding the high tariff measures of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]