US Is Not Negotiating for Weaker Dollar as Part of Tariff Talks
US officials seeking to negotiate trade deals around the world are not working to include currency policy pledges in the agreements, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Foreign-exchange markets are on edge over concerns President Donald Trump’s
administration is seeking a weaker greenback and might use trade bargaining to achieve that goal. South Korea’s won climbed nearly 2% against the dollar on Wednesday, while the Japanese yen also gained. Earlier this month Taiwan’s currency posted the biggest jump in decades
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is the only member of the Trump administration’s economic team tasked with addressing those matters, and he is not deputizing other officials to engage in currency policy deliberations with trade partners, the person said, adding that such matters will only be negotiated with Bessent present.
A Treasury spokesperson declined to comment.
The dollar has fallen some 8% overall against world currencies since Trump took office. The president has a long history of complaining about other countries – especially in Asia –- deliberately weakening their currencies to gain a commercial edge over America. His administration has imposed tariffs on most of the world, and is now dangling the possibility they’ll be dialed back as it engages in trade talks with multiple countries.
US officials seeking to negotiate trade deals around the world are not working to include currency policy pledges in the agreements, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Foreign-exchange markets are on edge over concerns President Donald Trump’s
administration is seeking a weaker greenback and might use trade bargaining to achieve that goal. South Korea’s won climbed nearly 2% against the dollar on Wednesday, while the Japanese yen also gained. Earlier this month Taiwan’s currency posted the biggest jump in decades.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is the only member of the Trump administration’s economic team tasked with addressing those matters, and he is not deputizing other officials to engage in currency policy deliberations with trade partners, the person said, adding that such matters will only be negotiated with Bessent present.
A Treasury spokesperson declined to comment.
The dollar has fallen some 8% overall against world currencies since Trump took office. The president has a long history of complaining about other countries – especially in Asia –- deliberately weakening their currencies to gain a commercial edge over America. His administration has imposed tariffs on most of the world, and is now dangling the possibility they’ll be dialed back as it engages in trade talks with multiple countries.
What’s happening behind closed doors in various trade negotiations is in line with these positions, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. The administration wants partners to abstain from unfairly manipulating their currencies lower, but there’s no plan to mention such policy in any upcoming deals that could lower some of Trump’s initial tariffs, the person said.
While Bessent has publicly reiterated the notion that a strong dollar reflects a strong economy, past comments by Trump and some of his aides have raised the possibility of a different approach.
Trump has tapped advisers such as Stephen Miran, chair of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers whose previous work had mapped out a path to alleviating what he’s recently referred to as the “burdens” of owning the world’s reserve currency
Wednesday’s volatility on Asian foreign-exchange markets is only the latest bout.
Earlier this month, the currency of Taiwan – known for careful management of its exchange rate — posted the biggest jump since 1988. While the full picture behind that move has yet to emerge, market participants attributed some of it to speculation that
Taiwanese authorities would allow their currency to appreciate to help reach a trade deal with the US.
Taiwan, Japan and China were already on the US Treasury’s “monitoring list” for foreign-exchange practices, and in November South Korea was added to it too.
Earlier this week, Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said he would seek an opportunity to discuss currency matters with Bessent at a forthcoming Group of Seven meeting in Canada.
