The new Democratic leadership of the US Congress is pressing the Bush administration to coerce Tokyo into acting to strengthen the yen, claiming the currency's weakness is bolstering Japanese imports at the expense of US manufacturers.

Some have gone so far as to allege that Japanese policymakers are manipulating the currency to subsidise exporters, and are threatening to withhold the president's fast-track negotiating authority over the Doha round of world trade negotiations when it expires in the spring.