Miguel Afonso Caetano<p>"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.</p><p>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.</p><p>“It does exist as a card,” said Kato, adding that “whether or not we use that card is a different decision”.</p><p>Japanese holders, including the government, own $1.13tn of Treasuries, the largest hoard held by a foreign nation.</p><p>There is no suggestion that Tokyo is considering any sales of official Treasury holdings. But traders said that even the reference to such an action as a “card” could add to volatility in a US bond market that has lurched violently since April 2 when Donald Trump announced sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs on US trade partners."</p><p><a href="https://www.ft.com/content/912f861f-26c8-4bcd-aca0-75a09e5767cc" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">ft.com/content/912f861f-26c8-4</span><span class="invisible">bcd-aca0-75a09e5767cc</span></a></p><p><a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/USA" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>USA</span></a> <a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/Trump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Trump</span></a> <a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/Tariffs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Tariffs</span></a> <a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/TradeWar" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TradeWar</span></a> <a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/Protectionism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Protectionism</span></a> <a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/Japan" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Japan</span></a> <a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/PublicDebt" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PublicDebt</span></a> <a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/USTreasuries" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>USTreasuries</span></a></p>