By Makiko Yamazaki
TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said on Friday he had not specifically discussed Japan’s $1 trillion-plus holdings of U.S. Treasury securities during past meetings with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Kato, at a regular news conference, addressed media reports saying that Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told opposition leaders on Thursday that Tokyo’s U.S. bond holdings came up during the two countries’ ongoing tariff negotiations.
“My understanding is that the topic of Japan’s Treasury holdings has been left with me and Treasury Secretary Bessent,” he said. “I will refrain from commenting on what we have discussed, but we have not had any specific exchanges on the handling of Tokyo’s Treasury holdings.”
According to the media reports, Yuichiro Tamaki, head of a small opposition party, cited Ishiba as saying the two countries were discussing Japan’s U.S. Treasuries holdings when Tamaki suggested that Japan could help stabilise U.S. yields by reinvesting in longer-term bonds when current holdings mature.
Kato caused a stir last month when he said Japan could use its holdings of U.S. Treasuries as “a card” in trade talks with Washington. He later clarified that Tokyo had no intention of threatening to sell U.S. Treasuries.
On Friday, Kato reiterated that the primary purpose of Japan’s U.S. Treasury holdings – the largest in the world – is to ensure it has sufficient liquidity to conduct foreign exchange transactions when necessary to stabilise its currency.
Japan and the U.S. have agreed to separate financial issues, such as currency rates, from direct trade negotiations, reserving them for discussions between their finance ministers.
Kato and Bessent have had in-person bilateral meetings twice so far. After the latest meeting in May, Kato said he did not directly discuss Japan’s U.S. Treasuries with Bessent.
(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Jacqueline Wong)