Which Countries Might US Treasury Target?

Which Countries Might US Treasury Target? 10/15/2014 0 Comments Post From KTFA By walkingstick » October 15th, 2014, •  [Post 289] Oct 15, 2014 ASIA Which Countries Might the U.S. Treasury Target in Its Next Currency Report? The U.S. Treasury could take Germany, China, Japan and South Korea to task over their economic policies in its next currency report. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images  (go to link for graph) The U.S. Treasury Department’s currency report to Congress is due out today. With the dollar recently hitting five-year highs and renewed concerns about a currency war, here are four countries the U.S. Treasury could highlight: ~~~ Germany: A year ago, the department blasted Germany for its economic policies , blaming the eurozone powerhouse for dragging down the regional and global economies. Germany has since been called out by the IMF as surpassing China as having the world’s largest trade surplus. That, says the IMF , means the Euro is up to 15% undervalued. And rising risks of a triple-dip eurozone recession derailing the U.S. Recovery is likely to put Germany’s policies back into Treasury’s sights. Japan: The U.S. Treasury Department last year pressed Japan into signing a G-7 pact to avoid targeting exchange rates after government officials in Tokyo talked about weakening the yen to give the economy a boost. Treasury was concerned that Tokyo’s actions could precipitate a global currency war. After getting Japan’s agreement on guidelines for a managed intervention to tame yen levels, the U.S. Backed off. But Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda recently praised the yen’s weakness, resurrecting worries that Tokyo may push down the value of their currency even further as growth stalls. China: Beijing has long been the focus of U.S. Exchange-rate criticism, the pariah of U.S.-based exporters who accuse the country of unfairly subsidizing Chinese companies with a undervalued currency.  In April, the administration criticized China’s yuan depreciation as an “unprecedented” currency intervention, renewing long-running exchange-rate frictions between the world’s largest economies. China has signaled that the appreciation may be over, even though Washington says that the yuan needs to head higher before it’s in line with market fundamentals. South Korea: The Treasury department has repeatedly warned South Korea should limit exchange rate intervention apart from “exceptional circumstances.”  A recent rise in Korea’s won in recent months prompted Seoul to signal in July it could resume currency intervention to counter the deterioration in the country’s export competitiveness. Which Countries Might the U.S. Treasury Target in Its Next Currency Report? http://www.dinarrecaps.com/our-blog/which-countries-might-us-treasury-target