Friendship with benefits: Why Trump is helping Japan rescue the yen
The United States has coordinated with Japan to intervene in currency markets to strengthen the yen, marking a rare joint effort to stabilize the Japanese economy. The move is framed as a strategic alliance effort, though it also serves to protect U.S. financial interests and exporters.
Why it matters
Currency intervention by major powers signals significant concern over global economic stability and the potential for broader market volatility.
The US has taken the extraordinary step of helping Japan pull the yen back from a four-decade low, signalling that Washington sees the currency’s collapse as more than Tokyo’s economic problem.The joint intervention drove the yen from nearly 164 against the dollar last month to around 155.20 on Monday before it settled near 157. Japan may have spent as much as $36.58 billion buying yen during Friday’s operation, according to central bank data cited by Reuters. The US Treasury reportedly sold euros, not dollars, to purchase yen.This was the first coordinated US-Japan currency intervention since the aftermath of Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2011. More importantly, it was the first joint attempt in almost three decades to strengthen, rather than weaken, the yen.The operation may have been presented as assistance to a trusted ally.
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