Dollar Hits Nine-Month Low Vs. Yen

The dollar hit a 9-month low against the yen Wednesday after Japan reported a sharply higher trade surplus and a top Treasury aide warned the Japanese not to export their way out of a long slump.

The admonition from Deputy Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers elevated the rhetoric from U.S. officials in recent days about Japan’s surplus as the United States prepares for the Group of Seven industrialized nation summit in Denver next week.

His remarks reinforced the possibility of renewed U.S.-Japanese trade friction due to the protracted weakness in the yen, which has made Japanese products more affordable abroad and U.S. products more expensive in Japan.

Exchange Currency in Dollars Dollar in foreign currency Canada .7211 1.3867 France .1723 5.8035 Germany .5828 1.7160 Great Britain 1.6377 .6106 Italy .000590 1694.50 Japan .008993 111.20 Mexico .125581 7.9630