Factbox-US finds no currency manipulators, adds Ireland, Switzerland to monitoring

(Reuters) -The U.S. Treasury Department said on Thursday that no major U.S. trading partners manipulated their currencies in the four quarters through to the end of December but it has expanded its monitoring list to nine countries.

The release is the first semi-annual currency report since Donald Trump's return to the White House and the last one pertaining to Joe Biden's time as president.

Two countries, Ireland and Switzerland, joined Germany, China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam, which were already being monitored at the time of the November report from the Biden administration.

The November report had found that no major U.S. trading partners manipulated their currencies in the 12 months ending June 2024 and during Biden's full four-year term there were no currency manipulation declarations.

Under former President Barack Obama, the U.S. had started a foreign exchange "monitoring list" of countries with high external surpluses or currency market interventions in April 2016 after the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015.

The Treasury uses three criteria to determine currency manipulation and countries meeting two of the thresholds are automatically added to the monitoring list.

The three items are: 1) a trade surplus with the U.S. of at least $15 billion, 2) a global account surplus above 3% of GDP, 3) persistent, one-way net foreign exchange purchases.

Countries currently being monitored:

** CHINA - The biggest U.S. trading partner was listed for monitoring in the latest report, which said it stands out among trading partners for lack of transparency on exchange rate practices and policies.

The Treasury Department said that a lack of transparency will not preclude it from designating China in the future if evidence suggests it is intervening through formal or informal channels to resist yuan appreciation.

A lack of transparency was also noted in the November 2024 report. China has been in every report since 2016.

While Trump had told the Treasury to label China a currency manipulator in August 2019, the designation was dropped in January 2020 as Chinese officials arrived in Washington to sign a trade agreement with the U.S.

** SWITZERLAND - Due to a large bilateral trade surplus with the U.S. and a large global current account surplus, Switzerland was added back in as a country that needed monitoring in the latest report. The U.S. had removed Switzerland from its list in November 2023.

In 2022, the U.S. had found Switzerland continued to exceed all three thresholds for possible manipulation, but stopped short of calling it a manipulator.

The U.S. had said at that time that it would continue an engagement with Switzerland, which began in early 2021 to discuss options for addressing its external imbalances.

This was after the Treasury in December 2020, the final full month of Trump's first term, had labeled Switzerland as a currency manipulator.

** IRELAND - Ireland was added to monitoring due to a large bilateral trade surplus with the U.S. and its large global current account surplus. It has been on and off the monitoring list in recent years. It was included on the watch list in both 2021 reports after being removed in December 2020. It was put on the list of countries being watched in May 2019.

** VIETNAM - Vietnam was kept on the U.S. list of countries for monitoring in the latest report. In December 2021 the U.S. had said Vietnam continued to exceed its thresholds for possible currency manipulation but refrained from branding it as a manipulator. In December 2020, the U.S., under Trump, had labeled Vietnam as a currency manipulator.

** SOUTH KOREA - South Korea was kept on the U.S. list of countries for monitoring in the latest report. In November 2024 South Korea was added to the U.S. monitoring list due to its large global current account surplus and its sizable goods and services trade deficit with the U.S. In November 2023, South Korea was removed from monitoring for the first time since 2016.

** TAIWAN - Taiwan was kept on the list for monitoring. In December 2021 the U.S. had said Taiwan continued to exceed its criteria for possible currency manipulation but did not formally label it a manipulator. Taiwan was first added to the monitoring list in 2016.

** JAPAN - In the latest report, Japan was kept on the monitoring list. In November, it was already being watched because of its trade surplus with the U.S. and an increase in its global current account surplus to 4.2% of GDP. Japan intervened three times since April 2024 to shore up the yen's value. The Treasury report said Japan was transparent but that intervention should only happen in "exceptional circumstances without prior consultations." It had been added to the list of countries monitored in 2016.

** GERMANY - It was on the list of countries being monitored in the latest report. Germany was also under monitoring in 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021 reports.

** SINGAPORE - Singapore was already on the monitoring list in both 2024 reports. It was also on the watch list in 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2020. In the December 2020 report the U.S. said Singapore had intervened in the forex market in a "sustained, asymmetric manner" but did not meet other requirements to be labeled a manipulator.

(Reporting By Sinéad Carew; Editing by Alden Bentley and Marguerita Choy)