Japan’s finance minister said she and her visiting American counterpart have confirmed their intention to maintain close coordination on foreign exchange policy.
Katayama Satsuki met US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday in Tokyo.
He held talks with Japanese leaders before heading to the US-China summit in Beijing later this week.
The meeting came after Japanese authorities intervened in the currency market in late April to halt the yen’s slide against the dollar amid the Iran conflict.
Katayama said, “We confirmed that Japan and the United States are in sync on currency trends, and we will keep working closely in line with the Japan-US Finance Ministers’ Joint Statement issued in September last year.”
She declined to answer when a reporter asked whether the discussions included the Bank of Japan’s monetary policy.
In a social media post after the talks, Bessent wrote, “I was pleased to reaffirm the strong economic partnership between the United States and Japan.”
He stressed that “The level of communication and coordination between our teams in addressing undesirable, excess volatility in currency markets continues to be constant and robust.”
Bessent also mentioned his meeting with Japan’s Economy Minister Akazawa Ryosei.
He said he told Akazawa that, thanks to President Donald Trump’s policy, “the United States is now exporting a record amount of energy to the world.”
He highlighted the “continued positive collaboration” on issues of “critical minerals and supply chains.”
Bessent also noted “the need for rapid and consistent progress” on the bilateral investment agreement.
