Yen underperforms major currencies on Trump tariff uncertainties

The yen is on track for its longest losing streak in more than a month amid heightened concerns Japan may be included in Donald Trump’s tariff plan.

Japan’s currency dropped as much as 0.8 percent to 153.73 against the dollar on Wednesday, its weakest level in a week and lagging all major peers. That’s in contrast from last week when the currency had its fourth straight gain for the period as traders bet that the Bank of Japan will raise rates again and the yen showed haven appeal.

The yen slid as Trump announced that he plans to impose 25 percent tariffs on all US imports of steel and aluminum. The Japanese government asked Trump on Wednesday to exempt the nation’s companies from his fresh tariffs, Trade Minister Yoji Muto told reporters.

“Yen underperformance is likely due to reciprocal tariff uncertainty,” said Christopher Wong, a strategist at Oversea-Chinese Banking in Singapore. “There is a genuine risk that Japan may be hit and this can complicate the near term outlook for yen.”