The U.S. has added Ireland to a list of countries it is keeping tabs on owing to a large and growing trade surplus that has stoked the ire of President Donald Trump.
As part of the U.S. Treasury’s semiannual report on the macroeconomic and foreign exchange policies of its largest trading partners, the body added Ireland and Switzerland to a nine-strong “Monitoring List” of countries whose macroeconomic policies or currency practices “merit close attention.”
The other countries on the U.S.’s monitoring list are China, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, Taiwan, South Korea, and Germany.
“In line with President Trump’s America First Trade Policy, the United States Treasury will be vigilant in identifying and taking action against currency manipulation and will continue to closely monitor a range of relevant macroeconomic and financial policies implemented by our trading partners that propagate imbalances, contribute to significant exchange rate misalignments, or result in an unfair competitive advantage in trade,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in a statement.
The U.S. started its monitoring list under the Barack Obama administration in 2016 to identify trading partners that may have gained an advantage over the country through unfair practices. Following its monitoring, in 2019, the U.S. officially labeled China as a currency manipulator. While a largely symbolic move, the announcement allowed then–Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to try and “eliminate” alleged manipulation
