SNB rejects talk of currency manipulation, says it targets inflation

ZURICH (Reuters) -A Swiss National Bank policymaker said on Thursday the central bank does not engage in currency manipulation, rejecting the suggestion that Switzerland could be targeted for the practice as part of U.S. President Donald Trump's new trade policies.

When asked whether Switzerland could be in Washington's sights, SNB governing board member Petra Tschudin said that the central bank has only intervened in foreign exchange markets to achieve its inflation goal, not to boost exports. 

"We really only intervened to fulfil our mandate of price stability," Tschudin said at an event in Zurich, noting that the SNB went into the market to defend its goal of keeping inflation between 0-2%.

On Wednesday, the United States hit Switzerland with higher import tariffs than those imposed on the European Union, surprising Swiss policymakers and alarming businesses.

Trump says he wants to cut the U.S. trade deficit, arguing his country has been ripped off by its trading partners.

The U.S. government has sought to justify its tariff rates on the basis of various factors including barriers to U.S. goods, differences in consumption tax rates, compliance hurdles and costs, plus currency manipulation and undervaluation.

Tschudin said she was surprised by how high the U.S. import tariffs slapped on Switzerland were.

She said the central bank has previously had exchanges with the U.S. Treasury to explain that its interventions are not to stimulate trade, but a defensive measure in periods where investors bought the Swiss franc as a safe haven currency.

Earlier, the SNB said it would continue its dialogue with the U.S. administration as it analysed the tariffs' impact.

(Reporting by Ariane LuthiEditing by Dave Graham and Tomasz Janowski)