US Announces Withdrawal of China's Currency Manipulator Designation (Update)

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The U.S. government has removed China from the currency manipulator list.

The U.S. Treasury Department announced on the afternoon of the 13th (local time) in its semi-annual currency report that it has lifted the designation of China as a currency manipulator. South Korea remains on the currency watchlist. This currency report was originally scheduled to be released around November last year but was postponed due to its linkage with the U.S.-China trade negotiations.

The key point of the currency report released by the U.S. Treasury on this day is the assessment of China. In this report, the U.S. designated China as a currency watchlist country. The Treasury had previously designated China as a currency manipulator in August last year but reversed its position after five months, stating that none of the trade partners met the criteria for currency manipulation.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin explained the background of this decision in a statement released on the same day, saying, "China has limited the depreciation of the yuan and committed to transparency and accountability."

The U.S. was expected to withdraw the currency manipulator designation ahead of the signing ceremony of the Phase One trade agreement with China scheduled for the 15th, but the announcement was made abruptly on this day. As a result, the signing ceremony of the Phase One agreement between the U.S. and China is expected to proceed as planned on the 15th.

However, unlike the change in stance toward China, the U.S. again placed South Korea on the currency watchlist. Besides China and South Korea, the countries mentioned as watchlist members include Germany, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Switzerland, and Vietnam.

The U.S. classifies countries as watchlist members if they meet two out of three criteria, including a significant trade surplus with the U.S. exceeding $20 billion over the past year, or if the size and proportion of the trade surplus with the U.S. are excessive.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.