US adds Japan to its currency watchlist

Washington: The United States added Japan to its monitoring list of major trading partners whose currency practices merit close attention on Thurs...

Washington: The United States added Japan to its "monitoring list" of major trading partners whose currency practices "merit close attention" on Thursday, while reaffirming that none had been designated as a currency manipulator.

The Treasury Department's semi-annual report looks at countries with big trade surpluses that actively intervene in foreign exchange markets to gain trade advantages.

In its report, the Treasury Department said Japan had met two out of the three criteria needed for "enhanced analysis," namely "having a material current account surplus and a significant bilateral trade surplus with the United States."

But it was not deemed to have met the third test, being "engaged in persistent one-sided intervention in the foreign exchange market."

Japan joins China, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Germany on the monitoring list, the US agency said in a statement, with none meeting all three criteria to merit enhanced analysis.