US List Targets Suspected Currency Manipulators, Including China and Germany

China, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland and Taiwan have been named as potential currency manipulators in a monitoring list created by the United States, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Congress on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — During the latest reporting period, the Treasury Department found that none of the targeted nation had met the criteria for "currency manipulator," Mnuchin explained.

"When foreign governments engage in currency manipulation, it makes the playing field uneven, which is why we regularly monitor these practices," Mnuchin stated in testimony prepared for the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.

Mnuchin also noted that the Trump administration’s goal of reaching 3 percent annual economic growth will require reform of the US tax code.

Tax reform is a major goal of President Donald Trump, who often cites the US corporate tax rate of 35 percent — the highest in the industrial world — as one reason the United States has not had a single quarter with a 3 percent annual growth rate since prior to the Great Recession.

US President Donald Trump during his election campaign repeatedly called China a currency manipulator, however, after meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping he seemed to have rethought his attitude as Washington needs Beijing's support in solving North Korean nuclear issue.