Japan and Canada, who is this year’s chair of the G7 developed economies, have agreed to co-operate to maintain stability in financial markets and the global financial system, Japan’s Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday.
In a phone conference on Wednesday, Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato and his Canadian counterpart, Francois-Philippe Champagne, shared concerns over the series of tariffs implemented by the U.S. government, the ministry said in a statement.
As U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping reciprocal tariffs took effect from midnight with a 104% levy on Chinese imports, China retaliated by vowing to raise tariffs on the U.S. to 84% from Thursday.
This led to a market rout with bond prices tumbling and global stocks falling further. U.S. Treasuries, the safest haven for the global financial system, were hit by fresh selling pressure on Wednesday in a sign that investors were dumping their safest assets.
The U.S. dollar also weakened against other major currencies.
Japan will co-operate with the Group of Seven advanced economies and the International Monetary Fund to help stabilize a market rout unleashed by U.S. tariffs, the country’s top currency diplomat said on Wednesday.
An email sent to Canada’s Finance Ministry was not immediately answered.
Reporting by Leika Kihara
Editing by Bernadette Baum and Chizu Nomiyama
