Overview
- The United States and Japan carried out a coordinated yen-buying operation on July 31 that Treasury says exchanged existing Exchange Stabilization Fund foreign-currency assets for yen rather than extending a loan to Japan.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent publicly rejected Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s claim that the move exposed taxpayers, calling her letter misinformed and offering a sharp tutorial-style rebuke on foreign exchange mechanics.
- The department has not disclosed key operational facts such as the exact dollar amount bought, execution rates, or the current value of the position, even as reporting has noted a $5–10 billion figure on a July notepad.
- Officials framed the intervention as a pre-emptive step to prevent disorderly yen swings that could force leveraged position unwinds, destabilize global markets, and push up U.S. borrowing costs while markets watch BOJ policy and elevated Treasury yields.
- At the G20 in Asheville, Bessent is pressing counterparts to back his parallel campaign of bank sanctions called Operation Economic Outcast, and U.S. officials say more bank sanctions are expected this week to choke Iran’s financial channels.