BreakingviewsCapital Calls: U.S. currency report
Reuters
3 minutes read
A Taiwan dollar note is seen in this illustration photo May 31, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas White/Illustration
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BACK TO NORMAL. The semiannual U.S. currency report is no longer a political football. The Treasury Department on Friday added Taiwan to a list of countries found to be intervening in foreign exchange markets, joining Vietnam and Switzerland. None were deemed currency manipulators and China avoided the spotlight. The American government is again playing it by the book.
Itâs a change from the former Donald Trump administration, which used the report as a way to punish China for faltering trade talks by labeling it a currency manipulator read more . The designation is based on a countryâs U.S. trade surplus, its current account surplus and a record of one-sided intervention in foreign currency markets. Treasury removed the moniker last year just before Washington and Beijing signed a $200 billion trade pact.