On August 2nd, local time, U.S. President Trump stated that the US's participation in the foreign exchange market interventions to strengthen the Japanese yen last week was a 'message of friendship' to Japan, and it also helped to maintain global economic stability.
According to Bloomberg, while on Air Force One, Trump told reporters that Japan "needs some help", and that the United States "will always help Japan".
While boasting that there are “good relations” between the United States and Japan, and that this operation is “more of a sign of friendship”, he suddenly mentioned the “Pearl Harbor incident” again, stating that Japan “has always been good to the United States—of course, except regarding Pearl Harbor”.
This is not the first time Trump has mentioned “Pearl Harbor”. In March of this year, during Goto Makoto’s visit to the United States, Trump was asked at a meeting at the White House why he did not inform his allies in advance about the military actions against Iran. He replied with the excuse of “surprise”, and suddenly mentioned the incident of Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, saying “who knows more about surprise attacks than Japan?” This caused an awkward atmosphere at the meeting.
Previously, Japan and the United States coordinated their foreign exchange market operations last week, which led to a significant rebound in the yen. The market is currently closely monitoring whether the US and Japan will continue to jointly intervene in the currency market. After Trump made the remarks, the yen’s exchange rate against the dollar weakened slightly.
Reports indicate that the Japanese Ministry of Finance and the US Treasury are currently engaging in a cooperation on a scale rarely seen over the past few decades, to support the yen exchange rate. This action has also increased the risk for market speculators who bet on further depreciation of the yen.
The Japanese yen has been under continuous pressure recently. The Japanese government and the central bank have expressed concerns about the rapid depreciation of the yen, fearing that exchange rate fluctuations could increase import costs and exacerbate the pressure on people's lives. This joint intervention by the United States and Japan is seen as an important move in terms of monetary policy coordination between the two countries.
However, the outside world is also concerned about whether US involvement in intervention will affect market expectations regarding free currency fluctuations, and whether the US-Japan cooperation can continue in the future.
