The United States Department of the Treasury cited that it is closely monitoring the Swiss Government’s economic policies and actions to influence the Swiss franc’s value.
This new development comes following the release of this US government department’s semi-annual Report to Congress titled, “Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the United States.”
We are eager to share this foreign exchange-related news with our followers. We think they will understand how the United States Department of the Treasury greatly affects the official currencies of various countries worldwide, including Switzerland and its Swiss franc.
Based on the report posted online by Indonesian daily English-language newspaper The Jakarta Post, Switzerland is among the 12 nations placed on the US Government’s monitoring list. However, the latter does not mean to accuse any of these countries of manipulating their official currencies to gain a competitive advantage.
The semi-annual US Treasury’s report to Congress looks at nations with massive trade surpluses. The document also evaluates countries that actively intervene in foreign exchange markets to keep their currencies from appreciating, making their export products more competitive.
Additionally, the findings in the semi-annual US Treasury report to Congress do not entail any sanctions. These discoveries are reportedly largely symbolic.
An official from the United States Department of the Treasury said that the government unit is not concerned about currency actions to address short-term shocks. As for Switzerland, this European country narrowly missed meeting all three criteria set out in the legislation for extra scrutiny.
Nevertheless, the US Treasury will reportedly carry on conducting an in-depth analysis of Switzerland’s policies relating to the Swiss franc. It will also continue engaging with the Swiss Government to discuss the latter’s policy choices to address its external imbalances’ underlying causes.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen remarked in a statement that her department is working relentlessly to promote a more robust and more balanced international recovery that benefits American workers, including via close engagement with leading economies on currency-related issues.
Aside from Switzerland, the US Treasury’s Monitoring List of territories that fulfill two of the three benchmarks consists of China, Mexico, Japan, Thailand, and South Korea.
Additionally, this list comprises Singapore, Germany, Malaysia, Ireland, India, and Italy. All of these countries except Switzerland were on the Monitoring List in the April 2021 Report.
We gathered that the United States Department of the Treasury is working towards the advantage of the US citizens. Hence, it is keeping a close eye on other territories like Switzerland to ensure that the Swiss franc’s exchange rate versus the US dollar does not undermine US workers and manufacturers.
We learned that the US Government has long scrutinized the Chinese Government, frequently accusing the latter of keeping the exchange rate artificially low via its massive US dollar stockpile. This alleged action of the Chinese Government has put American manufacturers and workers in a disadvantaged position.
Hence, the US Government is looking into other countries, including their official currencies such as Switzerland and its Swiss franc, to ensure that their governments’ policies on their national currencies agree with the criteria that do not harm the interests of the US economy.