US Treasury Finds No Currency Manipulators in 2025, Keeps 10 Nations on Monitoring List

The U.S. Treasury Department concluded that no major trading partner manipulated its currency for an unfair trade advantage during 2025, according to its latest semi-annual report released Thursday. However, the department maintained a "monitoring list" of 10 economies whose foreign exchange and macroeconomic policies will continue to receive close attention.

Key Findings from the Report

The Treasury's analysis, conducted under the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, formally cleared all major U.S. trading partners of the manipulator designation. A separate analysis also found that no country met all three criteria required for enhanced scrutiny of currency practices during the 2025 review period.

The 10 economies that remain on the monitoring list, unchanged from the January 2026 report, are:

• China
• Japan
• Korea
• Taiwan
• Thailand
• Singapore
• Vietnam
• Germany
• Ireland
• Switzerland

Monitoring Criteria and Outlook

Ad

A country is placed on the monitoring list if it meets two of three criteria established by the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015. These thresholds are a significant bilateral trade surplus with the U.S., a material current account surplus, and persistent, one-sided intervention in the foreign exchange market.

The Treasury noted that Thailand, Singapore, and Switzerland each met only one of the criteria in this report. These economies will be removed from the list if they meet fewer than two criteria in the next semi-annual assessment.

Context and Market Implications

The report's findings are significant for currency markets as a manipulator designation can be a precursor to trade disputes or potential U.S. sanctions. The lack of such a designation suggests a degree of stability in U.S. foreign economic policy, reducing immediate uncertainty for investors and forex traders.

Starting this year, the Treasury broadened its surveillance to include monitoring whether economies intervene to resist currency depreciation with the same vigor as they do to resist appreciation. This reflects a more comprehensive approach to evaluating foreign exchange practices beyond the traditional focus on actions that weaken a currency to boost exports.