A bipartisan majority of the US Senate has demanded that Barack Obama address “currency manipulation” in trade negotiations with 12 Pacific nations, throwing up a potential roadblock as the talks approach their final stages.

Although they do not mention Japan, their stance reflects growing anger on Capitol Hill and among US manufacturers, particularly carmakers, at the devaluation of the yen under the economic policies of Shinzo Abe.

The group of 60 senators, Democrats and Republicans, wrote to Mike Froman, the US trade representative, and Jack Lew, the Treasury secretary, asking them to fight for currency measures in the Transpacific Partnership and “future trade agreements”. – (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2013)