Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said it would be “difficult” to gain support for international coordination to halt the yen’s gains, signaling Japan may intervene alone if necessary.
“This is about what options we have on the assumption coordination would be difficult,” Noda said on a TV Tokyo program yesterday. “Our statements on taking ‘bold action when necessary’ cover everything.”
The yen’s advance to a 15-year high against the dollar threatens earnings at companies from Sony Corp to Toyota Motor Corp.
Sony chief executive officer Howard Stringer said this week the currency’s appreciation was a “huge handicap for us.”
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said last week the government was “ready when necessary to take bold measures” in the currency market.
Ichiro Ozawa, who has challenged Kan for the leadership of their ruling Democratic Party of Japan, said this week he would take “every measure,” including intervention, to keep the yen from rising.
“What they meant was the same,” Noda said in Tokyo. “Ultimately, it’s a matter of deciding whether or not to intervene.”
Japan views probable US opposition to currency intervention as an obstacle to selling the yen, three Japanese government officials said.
Yen sales without US backing would be a challenge, the officials said on condition of anonymity because the government discussions are private. Two of them also said volatility, rather than the current level, would be a more likely trigger for an end to the policy of refraining from sales of the currency.
Developed economies abroad are weaker than when Japan last intervened, and are themselves looking to boost exports, making it tougher for Japan to go it alone. Coordinated intervention helped set a floor for the euro in 2000 and the dollar in 1995, while Japan’s solo moves in 2003 failed to arrest its gains.
“This time, Japan isn’t the only nation having trouble, and the US and Europe also have a fire under their feet,” Takahiro Mitani, president of the Government Pension Investment Fund, and a former executive director at the Bank of Japan, said in an interview. “In that environment, it’s not easy for Japan to gain support” for intervention, he said.
HANDOVER POLICY: Approving the probe means that the new US administration of Donald Trump is likely to have the option to impose trade restrictions on China US President Joe Biden’s administration is set to initiate a trade investigation into Chinese semiconductors in the coming days as part of a push to reduce reliance on a technology that US officials believe poses national security risks. The probe could result in tariffs or other measures to restrict imports on older-model semiconductors and the products containing them, including medical devices, vehicles, smartphones and weaponry, people familiar with the matter said. The investigation examining so-called foundational chips could take months to conclude, meaning that any reaction to the findings would be left to the discretion of US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming team. Biden
INVESTMENT: Jun Seki, chief strategy officer for Hon Hai’s EV arm, and his team are currently in talks in France with Renault, Nissan’s 36 percent shareholder Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the iPhone maker known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) internationally, is in talks with Nissan Motor Co’s biggest shareholder Renault SA about its willingness to sell its shares in the Japanese automaker, the Central News Agency (CNA) said, citing people it did not identify. Nissan and fellow Japanese automaker, Honda Motor Co, are exploring a merger that would create a rival to Toyota Motor Corp in Japan and better position the combined company to face competitive challenges around the world, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. However, one potential spanner in the works is
In a patch of South America rich in lithium, used to make batteries for electric cars and other tech, Bolivia is lagging its neighbors in the race to mine the key metal. An area called the “lithium triangle” which spills over the borders of Bolivia, Chile and Argentina is home to 60 percent of the world’s lithium reserves, according to the US Geological Survey. Bolivia claims to have Earth’s largest deposit of the metal, used to make rechargeable batteries for smartphones, laptops and other devices besides e-vehicles. However, Bolivia has undertaken only four pilot projects and is running just one
HON HAI LURKS: The ‘Nikkei’ reported that Foxconn’s interest in Nissan accelerated the Honda-merger effort out of fears it might be taken over by the Taiwanese firm Nissan Motor Co has become the latest buyout target in Japan as it explores a merger with Honda Motor Co and faces an overture from Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) internationally. Shares in Nissan yesterday jumped 24 percent, the most on record, to hit the daily limit, after the two Japanese automakers acknowledged that talks are ongoing to better position themselves for competitive challenges during a time of upheaval in the global auto industry. Foxconn — a Taipei-based manufacturer of iPhones, which has been investing heavily in factories to build electric vehicles — has also
RSS