Economies People: Taro Aso

economies people: Pence and Aso meet in Japan next month for the first in a series of talks on economic relations between the world's largest and third-largest economies, according to The Japan Times. People who know or have worked under Aso say the 76-year-old, also the finance minister, will push to keep the agenda focused on areas both countries can easily agree on but will be well-armed if the conversation veers into areas of currency policy, a point of division between the long-standing postwar allies. One of the Trump administration's first major tests of its confrontational approach to trade will bring Vice President Mike Pence head-to-head with his Japanese counterpart, Taro Aso, the pugnacious deputy prime minister with a habit of speaking his mind. He speaks his own words and doesn't need much help from the bureaucrats when commenting on exchange rates, said a finance ministry official who has worked under Aso. The upcoming Japan-U.S. dialogue remains clouded by Trump's earlier accusations that countries such as China and Japan artificially weaken their currencies to boost exports. His negotiation skills were honed while dealing with the global financial crisis as Japan's prime minister in 2008 and subsequent Trans-Pacific Partnership talks with the Obama administration, sources say. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.