... But again refuses to label China 'currency manipulator'

Washington DC: The Trump administration once again refused to label China as a currency manipulator, even though on Tuesday it kept Beijing on a list of countries whose trade surpluses with the US and other indicators are closely tracked.

In its semi-annual report on macroeconomic and foreign exchange policies of major trading partners of the US, sent to the Congress, the Treasury department said that no country meets the criteria to be labelled as one seeking to gain unfair trade advantages over the US by manipulating its currency.

However, the report placed nine nations China, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam on the monitoring list.

India and Switzerland that had been on the previous watch list issued in October were removed.

The Treasury said while China does not meet the standards to be declared a currency manipulator, it will carefully monitor and review this determination over the following 6-month period in light of the exceptionally large and growing bilateral trade imbalance and China's history of facilitating an undervalued currency.

In its report, the Treasury said that it continues to have significant concerns about China's currency practices, particularly in light of the misalignment and undervaluation of the renminbi (RMB) relative to the US dollars.

China should make a concerted effort to enhance transparency of its exchange rate and reserve management operations and goals, it said.

The Treasury said it will continue its enhanced bilateral engagement with China regarding exchange rate issues, given that the RMB has fallen against the dollar by 8 per cent over the last year in the context of an extremely large and widening bilateral trade surplus.

"Treasury continues to urge China to take the necessary steps to avoid a persistently weak currency, the report

said.