The U.S. Department of the Treasury has released its semiannual report to Congress on the macroeconomic and foreign exchange policies of major trading partners, covering about 78 percent of U.S. foreign trade in goods and services for the four quarters through June 2025.
Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent stated: “President Trump is committed to pursuing economic and trade policies that will spur an American revitalization marked by strong economic growth, the elimination of destructive trade deficits, and countering unfair trade practices. Treasury is closely monitoring whether our trading partners are acting through foreign exchange intervention and non-market policies and practices to manipulate their currencies for unfair competitive advantage in trade. In support of President Trump’s America First Trade Policy, starting with this Report, Treasury is strengthening its analysis of trading partners’ currency policies and practices. These enhanced analyses inform Treasury’s assessments of exchange rate policies and practices of the United States’ major trading partners.”
The report notes that as part of the administration's "America First" policy, discussions began in spring 2025 with several trading partners regularly appearing on Treasury's Monitoring List from previous Foreign Exchange Reports. Joint statements have been issued with authorities from Japan, Switzerland, Malaysia, Thailand, Korea, and Taiwan. These statements confirm ongoing consultations on macroeconomic and foreign exchange issues while reaffirming commitments not to manipulate exchange rates for balance-of-payments or competitive purposes. The joint statements also emphasize transparency in exchange rate policy disclosures.
In line with requirements under U.S. law—including the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988—the Treasury assessed whether any major U.S. trading partner manipulated its currency against the dollar during this period to gain a trade advantage or prevent balance-of-payments adjustments. The department concluded that no such manipulation occurred among major partners during these four quarters.
Regarding China, although it was not designated as a currency manipulator in this report, Treasury noted concerns about transparency around China's exchange rate practices. The report states: “This lack of transparency will not preclude Treasury from designating China if available evidence suggests that it is intervening through formal or informal channels to resist RMB appreciation in the future.” It further urges Chinese authorities to allow their currency to appreciate according to market forces given China's large external surpluses.
The report found that none of the United States' major trading partners met all three criteria for enhanced analysis under relevant U.S. law during this review period ending June 2025. However, ten economies remain on Treasury’s Monitoring List due to their currency practices or macroeconomic policies: China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand (a new addition), Singapore, Vietnam, Germany, Ireland, and Switzerland.
For the first time in this edition, strengthened analysis includes broader monitoring beyond persistent one-sided interventions—also reviewing efforts by some economies to smooth both depreciation and appreciation pressures on their currencies. Additionally, greater scrutiny is being applied regarding other government measures influencing foreign exchange markets such as capital controls or use of government investment vehicles like pension funds.
Treasury also indicated closer examination now extends to net forward positions held by central banks because such tools can be used alongside spot interventions without impacting domestic monetary conditions.
The full report was submitted pursuant to Section 3005 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 as well as Section 701 of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015.
