Japan Sells US Debt Trying to Ease A Trade War

The Japanese government once again reduced its holdings of US government bonds during December 2017. In total, Japan sold bonds worth $ 22.5 billion. This is not a huge amount. Nevertheless, this puts the total stock of US debt at about $ 1.06 trillion, which is the lowest level since 2012. Japan used to be the largest holder of debt externally. However, it has fallen to number two just behind China.

By contrast, the Chinese government increased its holdings by about $8.5 billion in December to $ 1.18 trillion. The acquisitions in the entire year 2017 were as extensive as last 7 years ago. Naturally, the hard-money biased reporting paints this as an imminent crash in the dollar. What they fail to understand is that helping to lower the dollar is a tactic to ease trade friction.

Latest Posts

Canada Created its Own Trade Barriers

Stéfane Marion, chief economist of the National Bank of Canada, has urged the Canadian government to reconsider their own trade barriers amid criticism of Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs. The International [...]
Read more

US Population Rapidly Growing

The population of the United States grew by 1% to 340.1 million in 2024, according to the US Census Bureau, marking the largest population increase since 2000. The nation has [...]
Read more

China Eyes Vacant VW Factories

Germany’s failing auto sector may prove to be an integral power play for China, as Chinese OEMs are eyeing soon-to-be vacant Volkswagen (VW) factories. Volkswagen plans to close at least [...]
Read more

Inflation Soars in Russia

Russia’s CPI reached 9.5% this December as government spending has pulled the reigns away from the central bank. Inflation elevated from 8.9% YoY in November to 9.5%, slightly below expectations [...]
Read more