Fiscal, Monetary Policies Not Targeting Forex: Japan-U.S. Statement

Tokyo, Sept. 12 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have released a joint statement reaffirming that fiscal and monetary policies will not target foreign exchange rates.

Noting that the Japanese Finance Ministry and the U.S. Treasury Department agreed to continue close consultations on macroeconomic and foreign exchange issues, the statement said the two ministers reconfirmed that fiscal and monetary policies “will remain oriented toward meeting respective domestic objectives…and will not target exchange rates for competitive purposes.”

“We reconfirmed shared understanding between Japan and the United States on foreign exchange policies and the importance of transparent currency policies,” Kato told a press conference Friday morning.

The joint statement was issued following U.S. President Donald Trump’s signing of an executive order to revise tariff rates on imports from Japan.

Since April, the Japanese and U.S. finance chiefs have discussed foreign exchange issues, including through one-on-one talks, as part of Japan-U.S. tariff negotiations.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]