India removed from US currency monitoring list, China stays

Washington, May 29 (IANS) The US Treasury Department has removed India from its currency monitoring list of major trading partners.

In its semi-annual report to US Congress on International Economic and Exchange Rate Policies, the department on Tuesday removed India and Switzerland from the previous currency watch list of countries with potentially questionable foreign exchange policies.

India, along with China, Japan, Germany, Switzerland and South Korea, was placed in the bi-annual currency watch list in October last year.

The US, however, continued to keep China on its watch list, while urging the Asian nation to take necessary steps to avoid a "persistently weak currency".

"Treasury continues to urge China to take the necessary steps to avoid a persistently weak currency," said US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a statement.

Mnuchin stated that China's renminbi had fallen against the dollar by eight per cent over the last year. He also noted that China's trade surplus with the US has also widened.

"China's goods trade surplus with US stands at $419 billion over the four quarters through December 2018," the report said.

Besides China, the currency watch list also included Japan, South Korea, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore, according to the department's latest report.

"Treasury found that nine major trading partners continue to warrant placement on Treasury's 'Monitoring List' of major trading partners that merit close attention to their currency practices," Mnuchin said.

However, the department, in its report, has declined to designate China or any other major trading partner as a currency manipulator.

"No trading partner was found to have met the 1988 legislative standards during the current reporting period," the report concluded.