Katsunobu Kato dared to say aloud what everyone whispered in a low time. During an interview with TV Tokyo on Friday, May 2, the Japanese finance minister recognized that he could use the American debt held by Japan as a negotiation weapon against Donald Trump. “This is a card that exists, but the decision to use it or not is something else. »» The declaration made the financial circles start. This is the best Asian ally of the United States which threatens to use a formidable weapon against the United States.
Today, Japan is the first foreign country with the United States Treasury bills, with $ 1,125 billion (1,000 billion euros). It is a little less than 4 % of the total of the American debt, but enough to cause an electroshock if he began to sell these titles en masse. Such a maneuver would cause a sharp increase in American interest rates, making it more expensive to finance its deficit by the United States.
Proof of the subject’s sensitivity, two days after his declaration, Mr. Kato Retropedait: “We do not plan to sell American treasury bills as part of the Japan – United States negotiations. »» But the file is far from closed. Since the announcement of customs duties “Converse” By Donald Trump in early April, the rumor circulates in the markets: the Asians, Chinese in mind, would have sold part of their American treasury bills as a counter-offensive to the White House announcements.
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