Taiwan stays on U.S. currency manipulation monitoring list

Washington, June 5 (CNA) The U.S. government has kept Taiwan on its currency manipulation watchlist in a semiannual report on the "Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the United States."

The Treasury Department's report to Congress, released on Thursday, said no major U.S. trading partner manipulated exchange rates for an unfair trade advantage during the four quarters ending December 2024.

Nine economies, however, remain on a watch list for currency manipulation, including Taiwan, China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Vietnam and Germany, all of which were on the previous watch list from November 2024. Ireland and Switzerland were newly added.

"Taiwan publishes its data on foreign exchange intervention on a semi-annual basis, with a three-month lag. The authorities should closely monitor non-bank financial sector risks, including foreign exchange risks. Foreign exchange intervention should be limited and allow currency movements in line with economic fundamentals," the report said.

The U.S. Treasury report uses three criteria to name currency manipulators: A trade surplus with the U.S. of at least US$15 billion; a current account surplus of at least 3 percent of GDP; and persistent foreign exchange intervention, marked by net foreign currency purchases of at least 2 percent of GDP.

If an economy meets only one of the three criteria in two consecutive U.S. currency reports, it is removed from the monitoring list. But if it meets all three, it can be labeled a currency manipulator.

In this report, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Germany, Ireland and Switzerland meet the criteria for a significant bilateral surplus and a material current account surplus. Singapore meets the criteria for persistent, one-sided foreign exchange intervention and a material current account surplus.

China was kept on the list because of its "failure to publish foreign exchange intervention and broader lack of transparency around key features of its exchange rate mechanism," which warrants close monitoring, the report said. China's outsized trade imbalance with the U.S. was also a concern for the U.S. Treasury.

The Treasury Department will use "all available tools at its disposal to implement strong countermeasures against unfair currency practices," Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in a statement.

He added that the U.S. will closely monitor relevant macroeconomic and financial policies implemented by its trading partners that propagate imbalances, lead to significant exchange rate misalignments, or create an unfair trade advantage.