U.S. calls Thailand, Vietnam currency manipulators in Trump trade shot

[webfact]

U.S. calls Thailand, Vietnam currency manipulators in Trump trade shot

By David Lawder

 

FILE PHOTO: Stacks of Swiss franc, Euro and U.S. dollar banknotes are displayed in a bank in Bern August 15, 2011. REUTERS/Pascal Lauener/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration labeled Switzerland and Vietnam currency manipulators on Wednesday, in another parting shot at international trading partners that could complicate matters for U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's incoming team.

 

In a long-overdue report, the U.S. Treasury also added India, Thailand and Taiwan to a list of countries it says may be deliberately devaluing their currencies against the dollar.

 

The COVID-19 pandemic has skewed trade flows and widened U.S. deficits with trading partners, an irritant to outgoing President Donald Trump, who won office four years ago partly on a promise to close the U.S. trade gap.

 

The Swiss National Bank said it does not manipulate its currency and "remains willing to intervene more strongly in the foreign exchange market".

 

Vietnam's trade ministry declined to comment.

 

The manipulator labels will ramp up pressure on Biden before he takes over, Per Hammered, chief emerging markets strategist at SEB in Stockholm, said.

 

"You set the agenda and force him (Biden) into positions that he will have to get out of somehow," Hammered said.

 

The U.S. Treasury has labelled Switzerland and Vietnam as countries that deliberately weaken their currencies to gain advantage in trade. Julian Satterthwaite reports.

 

A U.S. Treasury official said Biden's transition team had not been briefed, adding: "They are not implicated in this."

 

U.S. Treasury Secretary nominee Janet Yellen could alter the findings in her first currency report, which is due in April.

 

A spokesman for Biden's team did not respond to a request for comment.

 

The President-elect's team has been critical of other moves by U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, including ending some Federal Reserve pandemic lending programs.

 

Mnuchin said in a statement that the Treasury "has taken a strong step today to safeguard economic growth and opportunity for American workers and businesses."

 

China, labeled by Mnuchin as a currency manipulator in August 2019 at the height of trade tensions, was kept on the Treasury's monitoring list due to its high trade surplus with the United States.

 

Mnuchin lifted the designation in January, two days before the world's two largest economies signed a "Phase 1" trade deal.

 

TRADE ADVANTAGE

Countries must at least have a $20 billion-plus bilateral trade surplus with the United States, foreign currency intervention exceeding 2% of gross domestic product and a global current account surplus exceeding 2% of GDP to be labeled a manipulator.

 

Vietnam and Switzerland far exceeded these criteria, with foreign exchange interventions of 5% and 14% of GDP respectively.

 

The report said that at least part of Vietnam's intervention was aimed at pushing down the dong for a trade advantage, while at least part of Switzerland's action was aimed at pushing down the Swiss franc to prevent effective balance of payments adjustments.

 

The Treasury said Switzerland's foreign exchange intervention totaled 14% of GDP.

 

Vietnam, which has seen foreign investment by companies seeking to avoid U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods, saw intervention of more than 5% of its GDP, it added.

 

Mark Sobel, a former Treasury and International Monetary Fund (IMF) official, said the manipulator designations were "mechanistic" interpretations of the thresholds that ignored subtleties and extenuating circumstances.

 

These include safe-haven inflows into Switzerland's currency due to the pandemic and a rush of foreign investment into Vietnam in 2019, fueled by U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods.

 

The IMF has forecast that Vietnam's current account surplus will fall below the 2% of GDP threshold for 2020.

 

"They're missing some more obvious cases of harmful currency practices," said Sobel, adding that Taiwan and Thailand which narrowly missed the intervention thresholds "have been intervening heavily for years."

 

The Treasury official said the United States will seek negotiations with Switzerland and Vietnam to bring them back below the manipulation thresholds and declined to speculate on whether the process could lead to U.S. tariffs on their goods.

 

Among remedies specified in U.S. laws governing the currency report are limiting offending countries' access to government procurement contracts and to development finance.

 

Vietnam could be hit with tariffs under a separate investigation by the U.S. Trade Representative's office now underway into the causes of an undervalued dong. The Treasury findings could influence this probe and some in the business community fear that Trump may move quickly on it.

 

The label briefly lifted the value of the Swiss franc against the dollar. Forex strategists said the move may make it slightly more difficult for the SNB to intervene, but the easing of the coronavirus pandemic would reduce upward pressure on the franc.

 

The Treasury also said its "monitoring list" of countries that meet some of the criteria has hit 10, with the additions of Taiwan, Thailand and India. Others remaining on the list are China, Japan, Korea, Germany, Italy, Singapore and Malaysia.

 

The report said that India and Singapore had intervened in the foreign exchange market in an "asymmetric manner" but did not meet other requirements to warrant a manipulator label.

 

(Reporting by David Lawder; Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal in Washington, Dan Burns in New York, John Revill in Zurich, Saikat Chatterjee in London, Khan Vu and James Pearson in Hanoi; Editing by Alexander Smith)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-12-17

 

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[RJRS1301]

So say the acolytes of the greatest manipulator since the curtain went back on the Great and Powerful Oz

Edited December 16, 2020 by RJRS1301

[Justgrazing]

29 minutes ago, webfact said:

U.S. calls Switzerland, Vietnam manipulators in Trump trade shot

 

I'm sure the Swiss can roll with it .. 

[ThaIrish Sean]

Thailand manages to get on the list of currency manipulators..... Who saw that coming? ????

[Chomper Higgot]

“You set the agenda and force him (Biden) into positions that he will have to get out of somehow," Hammered said.”

 

No, you stick a sign on the door that reads ‘under new management’.

[Berkshire]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

In a long-overdue report, the U.S. Treasury also added India, Thailand and Taiwan to a list of countries it says may be deliberately devaluing their currencies against the dollar.

If Thailand is deliberately devaluing its currency, they're not doing a very good job. 

[tomazbodner]

Now imagine if anyone could accuse US of manipulating currency...

[bendejo]

DT probably wondering "who haven't I messed with these four years?"  Thailand probably escaped his scope because he thought it was Taiwan.  "What, they're 2 different places?"  Probably was looking through an escort catalog.

 

 

[Eric Loh]

32 minutes ago, tomazbodner said:

Now imagine if anyone could accuse US of manipulating currency...

Not an imagination but a known fact that Trump advocate a weaker dollar and has been on record pressured Feds to weaken dollar to help boost exports. 

[kmj]

Thailand hasn't been labeled they have only been put on a watch list.

[mrmicbkktxl]

Printing trillions of $ is of course ok and not manipulation 

[chilli42]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

U.S. Treasury also added India, Thailand and Taiwan to a list of countries it says may be deliberately devaluing their currencies against the dollar.

 

 Of course they are.  What choice do they have? The US$ is the global reserve currency and its in a relatively strong decline since the start of the year.  I can’t say for the other countries but Thailand has been very public that they are trying to reverse a strengthening Baht.  This will all be sorted when the Yuan becomes the global reserve currency ????

Edited December 17, 2020 by onthedarkside
profanity reference removed

[placeholder]

4 minutes ago, chilli42 said:

No s$&t Sherlock.  Of course they are.  What choice do they have? The US$ is the global reserve currency and its in a relatively strong decline since the start of the year.  I can’t say for the other countries but Thailand has been very public that they are trying to reverse a strengthening Baht.  This will all be sorted when the Yuan becomes the global reserve currency ????

It should already have been an alternate reserve currency, but the fact is no major players trust the Chinese. Given that it's a crime in China to do investigative economic reporting, why should they?

[herwin1234]

You cant make this up. The country which turned real money into mickey mouse (the moment the dollar was not backed by gold anymore)) so it could better control the money (by printing extra trillions of dollars whenever it wanted yet not backed by any real gold) is bullying other countries about their own currency.

No wonder China wants to decouple economies from worldwide from the tirrany of the dollar.

[RJRS1301]

3 minutes ago, herwin1234 said:

You cant make this up. The country which turned real money into mickey mouse (the moment the dollar was not backed by gold anymore)) so it could better control the money (by printing extra trillions of dollars whenever it wanted yet not backed by any real gold) is bullying other countries about their own currency.

No wonder China wants to decouple economies from worldwide from the tirrany of the dollar.

You mean "quantative easing", so crass just printing money ????

 

[Bluespunk]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

U.S. Treasury Secretary nominee Janet Yellen could alter the findings in her first currency report, which is due in April.

Sorted. 
 

Just another trump mess to clear up. 

[Lacessit]

2 minutes ago, RJRS1301 said:

You mean "quantative easing", so crass just printing money ????

 

Goes along with "collateral damage", "friendly fire" and "extreme prejudice". So much more polite, I'm sure the victims appreciate it.

 

[dabhand]

3 hours ago, kmj said:

Thailand hasn't been labeled they have only been put on a watch list.

Yep, it seems that it's not only currency that gets manipulated.

[starky]

Says the lame duck 2 minutes before he gets booted. Never been a bigger sook on the face of the earth ever. Why didn't he do something about it then.

Edited December 17, 2020 by onthedarkside
off topic trolling reference removed

[Pravda]

8 hours ago, ThaIrish Sean said:

Thailand manages to get on the list of currency manipulators..... Who saw that coming? ????

 

Apparently you and all the others who keep complaining baht is too high while in reality Thai government has been helping UK/US pensioners on dole to stay in the country on borrowed time. 

 

 

Edited December 17, 2020 by onthedarkside
off topic trolling reference removed

[Traubert]

Just do what China does and ignore the blowhard. Its all internal noise and means nothing in reality.

[John Drake]

It's not enough that Trump and the Fed have created huge deficits and driven interest rates to zero so that your savings are wiped out. No. Now they want to wreck even more the exchange rate you're getting for your dollar versus the Thai baht. No interest on savings and a dollar ranging around $1 to 25 baht. That is your government for you. Don't worry, however, Tim Cook, Zuckerberg, the Google billionaires, and Bezos are rolling in the dough. 

[placeholder]

39 minutes ago, John Drake said:

It's not enough that Trump and the Fed have created huge deficits and driven interest rates to zero so that your savings are wiped out. No. Now they want to wreck even more the exchange rate you're getting for your dollar versus the Thai baht. No interest on savings and a dollar ranging around $1 to 25 baht. That is your government for you. Don't worry, however, Tim Cook, Zuckerberg, the Google billionaires, and Bezos are rolling in the dough. 

They're not driving the dollar down. The Fed  is paying as little interest as possible. As long as demand for the dollar is strong, why shouldn't they? Higher interest rates on T-bills means a higher national debt. If you want to know where the real problem lies, it's with the huge lowering of tax rates and the big increase in  tax deductions given the wealthy since Reagan's time. They have a huge amount of liquidity and nowhere to put it. There's only so much genuinely productive investment opportunities out there.. So the 1% parks the rest with the government or buys works of art or beach houses at absurdly high prices.

[Sujo]

Thailand need not worry, he is talking about thighland.

 

why would anyone care what trump says now, unless its guilty or not guilty.

[Bruntoid]

11 hours ago, Berkshire said:

If Thailand is deliberately devaluing its currency, they're not doing a very good job. 

Errrr I don’t think you understand the subject.

[Bruntoid]

5 hours ago, herwin1234 said:

You cant make this up. The country which turned real money into mickey mouse (the moment the dollar was not backed by gold anymore)) so it could better control the money (by printing extra trillions of dollars whenever it wanted yet not backed by any real gold) is bullying other countries about their own currency.

No wonder China wants to decouple economies from worldwide from the tirrany of the dollar.

It’s not about bullying - currencies need to be controlled else it’s a race to the bottom where eventually western workers will be earning the same rates as Asian sweatshops, alongside rampant unemployment! 

[Berkshire]

22 minutes ago, Bruntoid said:

11 hours ago, Berkshire said:

If Thailand is deliberately devaluing its currency, they're not doing a very good job. 

Errrr I don’t think you understand the subject.

Errr I don't think you grasped the tongue-in-cheek nature of my comment.  When a country devalues their currency, it typically would weaken it.  Understand?

[Bruntoid]

1 hour ago, Berkshire said:

Errr I don't think you grasped the tongue-in-cheek nature of my comment.  When a country devalues their currency, it typically would weaken it.  Understand?

????

[Baerboxer]

On 12/17/2020 at 6:38 AM, Chomper Higgot said:

“You set the agenda and force him (Biden) into positions that he will have to get out of somehow," Hammered said.”

 

No, you stick a sign on the door that reads ‘under new management’.

 

Janet Yellen can reverse all these decisions in April next year if she wants to.

 

I'm sure the countries involved don't take Trump's actions seriously. They'll just wave bye bye and wait for the new Team Biden. 

 

The only one looking negative is Trump. Self inflicted again.

[John Drake]

20 hours ago, placeholder said:

They're not driving the dollar down. The Fed  is paying as little interest as possible. As long as demand for the dollar is strong, why shouldn't they? Higher interest rates on T-bills means a higher national debt. If you want to know where the real problem lies, it's with the huge lowering of tax rates and the big increase in  tax deductions given the wealthy since Reagan's time. They have a huge amount of liquidity and nowhere to put it. There's only so much genuinely productive investment opportunities out there.. So the 1% parks the rest with the government or buys works of art or beach houses at absurdly high prices.

 

Yes, the 2017 tax cut for billionaires and bankers played its role. But so is the Fed monetizing the debt. Taxes should be raised. But not just on salaries. Really rich people don't have them. Tax their assets, the value of their stocks at the end of the year, their houses over $400,000 in value, any items they have insured for over $50,000. But don't punish savers and retirees with zero percent interest rates, just so corporations can issue no interest loans for themselves. And what about all the money last spring that went directly to the likes of Boeing, the airlines, and cruise lines? Why weren't they made to sell their assets and stocks before being made eligible for free government money? And then why not reduce the debt? Why was the debt increased for the likes of the big corporations and tech companies, while every day people were bought off with $1200? If you don't think that stimulus (i.e. printing money out of thin air) is driving down the dollar, why has it dropped off a cliff? The only people demanding dollars are the Fed and the banks in its treasury issue endless loop.