The Japanese yen has surged past 140! The upcoming meeting between the U.S. and Japanese finance ministers will jointly discuss "currency issues."

This week, investors will closely watch the meeting between Japanese Finance Minister Kato Katsunobu and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Pessen, where both sides will undoubtedly discuss the thorny issue of exchange rates. This meeting comes at a sensitive time with Trump's tariff policies and the rapid appreciation of the yen. Kato Katsunobu stated at a press conference on Tuesday: “Minister Pessen and I have been in close contact regarding currency issues, and I hope to take this opportunity for further discussions during the visit.” On Tuesday, driven by risk aversion, the yen broke through the psychological key level of 140 against the U.S. dollar, rising by as much as 0.7% to 139.90, the highest level since September of last year. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar is "unusually" weakening, with the dollar index currently falling to 98.17. Yen breaks the key psychological level of 140, U.S. and Japan finance ministers may discuss "currency issues" Historically, Trump has criticized Japan multiple times for weakening the yen to gain a trade advantage in exports. In March of this year, Trump stated that he told Japanese leaders not to continue allowing their currency to depreciate, as it was unfair to the U.S. Last Friday, Kato Katsunobu stated in a speech to the Diet that Japan does not manipulate the currency market to lower the yen and refuted President Trump's accusations that Japan intentionally weakens the yen to help exporters. On Tuesday morning, the yen broke through the psychological key level of 140 against the U.S. dollar, rising by as much as 0.7% to 139.90, the highest level since September of last year. Previously, the yen had stagnated around the 140 mark, with some traders defending their option positions. According to market performance, the yen performed the best against the U.S. dollar among G10 currencies on Tuesday. "If the yen clearly breaks through the 140 level or the mid-139 level reached last September, technical factors will more easily trigger yen buying and dollar selling, accelerating the appreciation of the yen," said Hideki Shibata, senior fixed income and foreign exchange strategist at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory Co. According to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as of April 15, speculative traders' bullish positions on the yen reached a historical high last week. Strategists pointed out: "The dollar/yen has fallen below the 140 line, and although it is currently hesitant to move further down, the overall trend of selling U.S. assets will not disappear, which means the trend of yen appreciation will continue for some time." Meeting or Discussion on Trump's Tariff Issues In addition to exchange rate issues, investors will also assess the potential impact of Trump's tariff policies on global economic growth. Kato Katsunobu stated that Japan is communicating with other countries, hoping to express shared concerns about the impact of tariffs at the Washington meeting. "I believe everyone is concerned about the impact of tariffs on the global economy and capital markets," Kato Katsunobu said, "We empathize with this and believe that close cooperation to reduce uncertainty is crucial." Shinzo Abe previously made a "tough statement", Japan "does not intend to make significant concessions and will not rush to reach an agreement." Japan's Minister for Economic Revitalization Akizawa Ryo also stated, "excluding the possibility of quickly reaching an agreement with the United States." However, under the threat of U.S. tariffs, the Japanese economy is facing gloom. The President of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stated last week that the IMF will release an updated version of the "World Economic Outlook" later today, which will reflect a "significant downward adjustment" to growth forecasts. The World Trade Organization (WTO) last week downgraded its trade growth forecast for this year from a previously estimated 2.7% growth to a slight contraction