The head of a U.S. auto trade group is criticizing Japan's repeated exchange-rate intervention as "currency protectionism" to provide an unfair competitive edge to Japanese automakers by keeping the yen artificially weak against the dollar.
"I do not accept (that) the yen is overvalued," Stephen Collins, president of the Automotive Trade Policy Council, said in an interview with Kyodo News.
"I think the Bank of Japan has taken action repeatedly and extraordinarily in the last couple of months to ensure that the market rates don't prevail," he said.
The Washington-based ATPC said it represents the common international economic, trade and investment interests of General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG.