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NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) – US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Saturday that Washington wants to include a provision to discourage currency manipulation in future trade deals, including with Japan.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, speaking in an interview with Reuters at the International Monetary Fund – 2018 World Bank Annual Meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, October 12 2018. REUTERS / Johannes P. Christo
This was a cause for concern in Japan, where the local media made headlines as a sign that Washington could criticize currency manipulation for any future attempt by Tokyo to contain the rise in the yen.
Mnuchin told reporters that the United States would like to include in its future trade agreements a clause on the renegotiation of NAFTA that deters their members from manipulating foreign currency.
"Our goal would be that monetary problems … We would like to include them in future trade agreements. With everyone I do not choose Japan about it, "said Mnuchin on Saturday when asked whether the United States would discuss currencies during trade negotiations with Japan.
"We did not have any specific conversations about it. Obviously, we have ongoing conversations with my counterparts about the currency. But this is the model we would like to integrate in the future, "he said.
US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed in September to begin trade talks under an agreement that, for now, protects Japanese car makers from new tariffs.
In addition to fears of higher tariffs on motor vehicle exports, Japan is worried that it will not have its hands tied to the strong yen increases that are affecting its economy, which is based on exports.
Report by David Lawder and Leika Kihara; Edited by Muralikumar Anantharaman
