Treasury Releases Report on Policies of Major US Trade Partners

The Treasury Department submitted to Congress its semiannual Report on Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the U.S., finding that “no major U.S. trading partner met the relevant … criteria” for unfair trading practices. Treasury did find, however, that nine “major trading partners” warrant “close attention to their currency practices:” China, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam, according to a May 28 press release. Of the nine, all but China “met two of the three criteria for enhanced analysis under” the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, Treasury said. In its report, Treasury said China “has met one of the three criteria in every” report since 2016 and “constitutes a disproportionate share of the overall U.S. trade deficit.”