TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan remains on the latest US currency manipulation “Monitoring List."
The US Department of the Treasury, in its latest semiannual report released Thursday, said that no major US trading partner has been found to manipulate its currency, per CNA. However, Taiwan, China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, and Germany remain on the watch list, with Ireland and Switzerland added, bringing the total to nine.
The Treasury submitted the report to Congress, assessing the macroeconomic and foreign exchange policies of key trading partners that together account for 78% of US trade in goods and services. According to the report, for the four quarters ending December 2024, no major trading partner manipulated its exchange rate with the US dollar to prevent effective balance of payments adjustments or to gain an unfair competitive advantage in international trade.
The Treasury said that US President Donald Trump is committed to economic and trade policies aimed at revitalizing the US economy, eliminating damaging trade deficits, and addressing unfair trade practices. This includes addressing unfair currency practices, such as improper intervention in foreign exchange markets.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the Trump administration has made clear to US trading partners that economic policies contributing to trade imbalances with the US will not be tolerated. “We will continue to strengthen our analysis of currency practices and increase the consequences of any manipulation designation. Moving forward, Treasury will use all available tools at its disposal to implement strong countermeasures against unfair currency practices,” he said.
The report noted that Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Germany, Ireland, and Switzerland met the thresholds for both a “significant bilateral surplus” and a “material current account surplus.” Singapore met the criteria for “persistent, one-sided foreign exchange intervention” and a “material current account surplus.”
The report mentioned that Taiwan publishes its foreign exchange intervention data semiannually with a three-month lag. It advised Taiwanese authorities to closely monitor risks in the non-bank financial sector, including those related to foreign exchange, and to limit currency interventions so that currency movements better reflect underlying economic fundamentals.
For China, the report criticized its lack of disclosure on foreign exchange interventions and noted that key aspects of its exchange rate mechanism remain opaque compared to other major economies. Combined with the country’s large trade imbalance with the US, it said these concerns justify China’s continued inclusion on the monitoring list.
The Treasury emphasized that this lack of transparency does not preclude it from designating China as a currency manipulator in the future if relevant evidence emerges.
The US uses three criteria to assess currency manipulation:
- A bilateral trade surplus with the US exceeding $15 billion
- A current account surplus greater than 3% of GDP
- Net purchases of foreign currency exceeding 2% of GDP in at least eight out of 12 months
