Treasury removes label from 2 nations

WASHINGTON — Vietnam and Switzerland have been removed from the list of nations labeled by the U.S. as currency manipulators, reversing a decision made by the Trump administration in December.

In its semiannual report to Congress on currency manipulation, the first under the Biden administration, the U.S. Treasury Department said Friday that no country currently meets the U.S. criteria as a manipulator. It said, however, that Vietnam and Switzerland, as well as Taiwan, will be under enhanced monitoring.

At the higher level of scrutiny that the report called “enhanced engagement,” Vietnam, Switzerland and now Taiwan will be subjected to closer review of their practices as part of laws passed by Congress requiring the administration to call out nations that are engaging in alleged currency manipulation to gain unfair trade advantages over the United States.

The Treasury did not designate China as a currency manipulator, something the Trump administration had done in 2019 during a tense trade standoff with the world’s second-largest economy. China is included on a list of 11 countries being monitored at a lower level than Vietnam, Switzerland and Taiwan.

Also on the list with China are Japan, South Korea, Germany, Ireland, Italy, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Mexico. Only Ireland and Mexico were added to the list Friday.

None of the countries on either list has U.S. economic sanctions against them due to alleged currency manipulation.

Nations that have been alleged by the U.S. to be participating in manipulation generally engage in selling their own currency and buying U.S. dollars as a way of lowering the value of their currency while boosting the value of the dollar. Being designated as a currency manipulator can mean the imposition of U.S. economic sanctions if a period of negotiations fails to resolve the issues that the U.S. finds objectionable.