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Bessent shows US will baulk at any dollar rebound

Engineering a tacit devaluation in a world of free-floating exchange rates is not easy, but undermining Fed independence and pressuring it to make interest rate cuts is one way to try

    • In an extraordinary intervention, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent publicly prodded the Bank of Japan to keep raising interest rates.
    • In an extraordinary intervention, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent publicly prodded the Bank of Japan to keep raising interest rates. PHOTO: REUTERS
    Published Thu, Oct 30, 2025 · 07:00 PM

    FOR anyone betting on a US dollar rebound, your biggest barrier is in Washington – and not just at the Federal Reserve.

    Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this week publicly prodded the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to keep raising interest rates, an extraordinary intervention that indicates how sensitive the current US administration is to any dollar rally.

    Whether you agree with it or not, President Donald Trump’s administration has a clear worldview rooted in its ideas about “fair trade”, and the link between exchange rates and economic regeneration. A weaker dollar is clearly central to this weltanschauung.

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