Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally called Japan a currency manipulator that’s giving local exporters an unfair edge as the weaker yen threatens to undermine U.S. automakers’ profits.
Japan is “absolutely” manipulating its currency, the CEO of the second-biggest U.S. automaker said in a Bloomberg TV interview Thursday. “With the currency manipulation, we just have to get back to the place where the currencies are set by the markets and the free trade agreements really are free trade agreements.”
Mulally, who’s expressed concerns about the yen throughout this year, illustrates how the currency-led boon for Japanese exporters is drawing mounting international criticism. Bank of Korea Gov. Kim Choong-soo this week urged Asian countries to work together to defend themselves against the side-effects of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s reflation campaign.
“Mulally is one of the harshest critics on the yen,” said John Zeng, a shanghai-based analyst at LMC automotive. “A weaker yen puts them in a disadvantageous position.”
The yen has fallen against every major currency since mid-November, including 17 percent versus the dollar, bolstering the value of overseas sales at Japanese exporters from Toyota Motor Corp. to Sony Corp. Japan’s benchmark Topix index last month climbed to the highest in almost five years and exports in Japan in May increased the most since 2010. Mulally reiterated his concerns that Japan is a closed market for U.S. automakers, who’ve hired lobbyists to oppose Japan’s bid to join negotiations aimed at creating the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
(Bloomberg)
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