Taipei: The Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan) has announced that Taiwan's presence on the United States' currency monitoring list is anticipated to become a regular event. This statement followed the U.S. Department of Treasury's decision to once again include Taiwan on its list of major trading partners that require close scrutiny of their currency practices and macroeconomic policies.According to Focus Taiwan, Taiwan's central bank highlighted the establishment of effective communication channels with the United States, which are essential for mutual understanding of each other's economic and foreign exchange policies. Alongside Taiwan, the U.S. Department of Treasury's watchlist also features China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, and Germany, as per the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988. This marks Taiwan's sixth consecutive appearance on the biannual list, with South Korea reappearing after a brief absence.The report from the U.S. Treasury did not label any of its maj or trading partners as currency manipulators, a term used for economies believed to be manipulating exchange rates to gain unfair trade advantages or prevent balance of payments adjustments through June 2024. The Treasury uses three criteria to assess potential currency manipulators: a bilateral trade surplus with the U.S. of at least US$15 billion, a material current account surplus of at least 3% of GDP, and persistent one-sided intervention in foreign exchange markets.Taiwan met the first two criteria, with a trade surplus of US$57 billion over the past year and a current account surplus representing 14.7% of its GDP. Taiwan's central bank attributed this to the country's export-driven economy and the robust demand for Taiwanese information and communications technology products, particularly semiconductors, from the U.S.Factors contributing to Taiwan's growing trade surplus with the U.S. include the increasing demand for advanced technology components and the impact of remote working and schooling, as well as trade tensions between the U.S. and China. The central bank emphasized that these developments were unrelated to currency manipulation.Furthermore, Taiwan's central bank noted the country's significant current account surplus is due to accumulated excess savings. In a report to the Legislative Yuan, the central bank recommended that Taiwan increase its purchases of energy, agricultural goods, and military items from the U.S. to mitigate the trade surplus.The U.S. Treasury report advised Taiwan to monitor non-bank financial sector risks, including foreign exchange risks, and recommended that foreign exchange intervention be minimal, with currency movements aligning with economic fundamentals.