Posted on 05/03/2025 9:28:08 AM PDT by Racketeer
Finance minister Katsunobu Kato hints that country’s more than $1tn in Treasuries gives it leverage in negotiations
Japan’s finance minister has publicly identified the country’s more than $1tn holdings of US Treasuries as a “card” in its trade negotiations with the Trump administration, in a rare baring of teeth by America’s closest ally in Asia.
Speaking during a television interview on Friday, Katsunobu Kato was asked whether Japan would use its traditional stance as a non-seller of Treasuries as a tool in trade talks with Washington.
“It does exist as a card,” said Kato, adding that “whether or not we use that card is a different decision”.
Japanese holders, including the government, own $1.13tn of Treasuries, the largest hoard held by a foreign nation.
(Excerpt) Read more at ft.com ...
I’m pretty sure we still have Enola Gay somewhere out there in good condition.
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And a Japanese Destroyer would probably shoot it down before it even got to the coast.
If everyone drops their T Bills your Momz is gonna have breakdown....with you. Sparky.
A card that can only be played once.
OH YEA! Well here is what Japan does not know. In 1945 US soldiers captured Godzilla. The US has been holding him in a secure location. Teasing him real good, and is prepared to let him go again in Tokyo. Rumors are that Godzilla is not the only one we captured.
It does look like Potus blinked when treasury holdings were sold, increasing the cost to the USA to borrow
I think not. These nations know what China is and what the United State is.
Trump starts from an unrealistic position and then negotiates down to what he really wants, pure “Art Of The Deal”.
Most politicians don’t do things this way, and that’s why they misinterpret what Trump is trying to do.
Nope. Zero chance. Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam rely on us as a huge buyer nation. We prop up their industries with our huge consumption of their products. China buys very little and has been trying to encourage their own people to consume more of the products they make, not to start importing foreign goods.
You cannot replace someone to buy your goods with someone who only wants to sell you things. It’s simply not possible. Those in the media or foreign nations who insist these countries could replace the US with China are simply ignoring the actual situation and pushing nonsense. You can’t replace something with its opposite—and that’s not even mentioning how most of those nations rely on us to defend them from China.
And there’s nothing especially “inconsistent” with the normal back-and-forth of negotiations. Trump understands that other nations will try to get good deals for themselves too in the talks. It’s natural and expected. Thank God, Trump isn’t so weak as to start running for the hills as soon as he gets a little push back even when the US holds the better cards.
And we pull out all U.S. Military Bases in Japan.
And we pull out all U.S. Military Bases in Japan.
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Yeah, China would love that.
Japan won’t. And that’s my point.
Japan won’t. And that’s my point.
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You sure fooled me.
We are in the early stages of an industrial revolution whose scale matches that of the late 19th century. People will say oh robots, but that’s not the half of it.
Trump is a blessing from heaven that a guy with his chops is in charge at such a moment.
In the end the USA will not need any other country for anything. The entire supply chain comes home. The middle class that started to disappear after 1970 returns. And the great promise of the future returns.
I’m a boomer and like Trump, I remember America before 1970 when the sky and the great beyond was the limit. Every move Trump makes is to restore that world. So far, I see success.Because that’s who Trump is.
“And then maybe Japan uses it’s card.”
Yep, maybe Japan uses their only card. Please, Japan, feel free to use your only card.
ROFLMAO!!
This guy is into seppuku.
There is no way Japan would blow up their economy like that. Threats are not very effective when they are empty.
How about we pull our troops and protection out of Japan. I wonder how China would react to that? I know those two countries just loooove each other. And Korea would be troubled about which side to take in that fight.
Only fools underestimate an opponant.
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