Last week, Congress received the US Treasury's latest report on the FX policies of our major trading partners. The main purpose of this semi-annual report is to identify foreign governments which are manipulating their currencies to gain unfair advantage in international trade.
There was talk that China, Germany and/or South Korea might be named last week, but none of that came to pass.1 It's notable that while President Trump has personally labeled China a currency manipulator, the US Treasury declined to take that step.
The reason might be as simple as the fact that two out of three necessary criteria were not met
- Bilateral trade surplus with the US must not exceed $20 billion (YES - China’s surplus is nearly $350 billion)2
- Current account surplus must not be greater than 3 percent of a country’s GDP (NO - China’s is only 1.3 percent)3
- Persistent one-sided currency intervention must be observed (NO – the Chinese central bank has not intervened since its surprise devaluation in August 2015; since then, the central bank has been observed propping up its currency rather than driving it down)
The question remains: Should we be concerned that China has not officially been labeled a currency manipulator?
The simple answer is no. The more thoughtful answer is that we would have greater concerns if the US Treasury had taken the bolder step. Here's why:
- Traders assume that the Trump administration’s ultimate goal is to prevent China from weakening its currency in order to soften the blow of tariffs. However, branding China a “currency manipulator” in the midst of a trade war would be introducing a potentially volatile new aspect to a complicated and delicate diplomacy. Turning what is now a "trade war" into a "currency war" would likely provoke bedlam in global financial markets, particularly within the Asian currency markets.
- The US Treasury did revise its FX “watch list," and that list now includes China as well as Germany, India, Japan, South Korea and Switzerland4. To single out China from this list would send a signal to China and the world, and China would react. We can't say exactly how, but we know that the markets hate uncertainty more than anything.
- For the time being, a potential currency war between China and the US has been contained. We can interpret some of the language in the Treasury report to serve as a "final warning." The good news is that we have six months until we find ourselves at this crossroad again, when the Treasury makes its next report to Congress. Until then, it remains to be seen whether inflammatory rhetoric fuels currency movement, and most importantly, whether China will guide its currency up or down. We'll be watching.
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Sources:
1, 4 US Department of the Treasury
2, 3 Bloomberg 2018
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of SVB Financial Group, Silicon Valley Bank, or any of its affiliates. This material, including without limitation to the statistical information herein, is provided for informational purposes only. The material is based in part on information from third-party sources that we believe to be reliable but which has not been independently verified by us, and, as such, we do not represent the information is accurate or complete. The information should not be viewed as tax, accounting, investment, legal or other advice, nor is it to be relied on in making an investment or other decision. You should obtain relevant and specific professional advice before making any investment decision. Nothing relating to the material should be construed as a solicitation, offer or recommendation to acquire or dispose of any investment, or to engage in any other transaction.
Foreign exchange transactions can be highly risky, and losses may occur in short periods of time if there is an adverse movement of exchange rates. Exchange rates can be highly volatile and are impacted by numerous economic, political and social factors as well as supply and demand and governmental intervention, control and adjustments. Investments in financial instruments carry significant risk, including the possible loss of the principal amount invested. Before entering any foreign exchange transaction, you should obtain advice from your own tax, financial, legal, accounting and other advisors and only make investment decisions on the basis of your own objectives, experience and resources.
All non-SVB named companies listed throughout this document, as represented with the various statistical, thoughts, analysis and insights shared in this document, are independent third parties and are not affiliated with SVB Financial Group.
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of SVB Financial Group, Silicon Valley Bank, or any of its affiliates.
This material, including without limitation to the statistical information herein, is provided for informational purposes only. The material is based in part on information from third-party sources that we believe to be reliable but which has not been independently verified by us, and, as such, we do not represent the information is accurate or complete. The information should not be viewed as tax, accounting, investment, legal or other advice, nor is it to be relied on in making an investment or other decision. You should obtain relevant and specific professional advice before making any investment decision. Nothing relating to the material should be construed as a solicitation, offer or recommendation to acquire or dispose of any investment, or to engage in any other transaction.
Foreign exchange transactions can be highly risky, and losses may occur in short periods of time if there is an adverse movement of exchange rates. Exchange rates can be highly volatile and are impacted by numerous economic, political and social factors as well as supply and demand and governmental intervention, control and adjustments. Investments in financial instruments carry significant risk, including the possible loss of the principal amount invested. Before entering any foreign exchange transaction, you should obtain advice from your own tax, financial, legal, accounting and other advisors and only make investment decisions on the basis of your own objectives, experience and resources.
All non-SVB named companies listed throughout this document, as represented with the various statistical, thoughts, analysis and insights shared in this document, are independent third parties and are not affiliated with SVB Financial Group.