Japan finance minister expresses deep concern over impact of Trump’s tariffs

• Deeply concerned about US tariffs affecting Japan, world economy
• Impact could be felt via various routes such as trade and financial markets
• There’s a risk of exerting downwards pressure on Japan’s economy
• No comment on what will be discussed on FX at possible meeting with Bessent
• No change to Japan’s stance over recent FX market developments
• Actively exchanging views with the US on basic stance on FX
• Will closely communicate with the US on currency issues in light of market volatility

The remarks here came from an interview hours after the tariff talks began in Washington, so there were no probing questions on that. The big one mostly centered around FX, in asking Kato about market speculation that the US could ask Japan to join in on a coordinated effort to weaken the dollar. Of course, he brushed that aside as Japan will continue to want to avoid any topic on currency manipulation.

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.