The United States has added Taiwan and Vietnam to its list of countries to be monitored for signs of currency manipulation, reports said Saturday, 11 June.,In a reaction, the Central Bank said it would maintain close contacts with the U.S. Treasury Department during the coming year, CNA reported.,The U.S. explained its addition of Taiwan to the monitoring list by saying the Asian democracy had met two of the three criteria for currency manipulation. Taiwan’s bilateral goods and services trade surplus with the U.S. exceeded US$15 billion (NT$445 billion), and its current account surplus equaled at least 3% of its gross domestic product (GDP).,The goods trade surplus for Taiwan surged to US$40 billion in 2021 from US$28 billion the previous year, while a US$3 billion deficit for the bilateral services trade in 2020 melted away to near zero the following year, the report said.,Taiwan’s current account surplus rose to US$115 billion or 14.8% of GDP in 2021 from US$95 billion or 14.2% of GDP the previous year. The only criterion for “enhanced analysis” Taiwan did not meet was the persistent purchasing of foreign currency worth more than 2% of its GDP.,Switzerland reportedly met all three criteria related to currency manipulation, while other Asian countries already on the monitoring list before Taiwan and Vietnam included China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and India.,Taiwan’s Central Bank noted that not a single country had been condemned as a currency manipulator. Channels of communication with the U.S. Treasury Department were open and functioning positively, allowing for constructive discussions on the issue, the bank said. (Courtesy of Taiwan News), ,