U.S. Treasury Department Report Finds No Evidence Of Currency Manipulation

The department did place seven countries on its monitoring list of major trading partners that merit close attention to their currency practices and macroeconomic policies. Those countries were China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Germany.

The report reiterated the Treasury Department ’s call for increased transparency from China and noted the Chinese government’s failure to publish foreign exchange intervention, along with a broader lack of transparency surrounding the key features of its exchange rate policy, make the country an outlier among major economies and, therefore, deserving of close monitoring by the department.

A press release issued with the report noted the Biden administration strongly opposes attempts by U.S. trading partners to artificially manipulate currency values to gain unfair advantage over U.S. companies and workers. “Treasury firmly advocates for our major trading partners to adopt policies that support strong, sustainable, and balanced global growth and reduce excessive external imbalances. Treasury continues to engage closely on currency-related issues to ensure a level playing field for America’s firms and workers,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.

As Reuters reminded readers, during his previous term in office, President-elect Donald Trump’s Treasury department named Vietnam and Switzerland as currency manipulators due to those countries’ market interventions to weaken the value of their currencies.