U.S. Puts China, Japan on New Watch List for FX Practices
- Germany, South Korea, Taiwan also placed on monitoring list
- Treasury says China's yuan should appreciate over medium term
A couple stands on a sidewalk as a Chinese flag flies in Shanghai, China, on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. For all the hand wringing over China's economic slowdown, the employment picture has so far remained immune to tumbling stocks, a sliding currency and waning industrial growth.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/BloombergThe U.S. put economies including China, Japan and Germany on a new currency watch list, saying their foreign-exchange practices bear close monitoring to gauge whether they provide an unfair trade advantage over America.
The inaugural list also includes South Korea and Taiwan, the Treasury Department said Friday in a revamped version of its semi-annual report on the foreign-exchange policies of major U.S. trading partners. The five economies met two of the three criteria used to judge unfair practices under a February law that seeks to enforce U.S. trade interests. Meeting all three would trigger action by the president to enter discussions with the country and seek potential penalties.