The central bank yesterday said that Taiwan did not carry out one-sided currency intervention as the US has claimed.
The nation’s monetary policymaker released a statement after the US Department of the Treasury submitted a report on foreign exchange policies of major trading partners to the US Congress on Friday, which put Taiwan, China, South Korea, Japan and Germany on a watch list for an “enhanced analysis” of the nations’ practices.
The US Treasury has listed three criteria to monitor unfair trade advantages against the US, of which Taiwan met two, according to the report.
The report said that Taiwan “engaged in persistent net foreign currency purchases through most of last year.”
“In light of Taiwan’s large current account surplus, such interventions are concerning,” the report said.
The report said that as of the end of last year, Taiwan has spent 2.4 percent of its GDP on net foreign exchange purchases, surpassing the US Treasury’s criterion of 2 percent.
The figure “is an estimate” of the US Treasury only, the central bank said in its statement.
The report also said that “[Taiwanese] authorities should limit foreign exchange interventions to the exceptional circumstances of disorderly market conditions, as well as increase the transparency of reserve holdings and foreign exchange market intervention.”
The US Treasury also said that Taiwan has a material current account surplus of 14.6 percent of GDP, exceeding 3 percent of its criterion.
Taiwan’s bilateral goods trade surplus with the US stood at US$14.9 billion last year, falling short of the US Treasury’s threshold, according to the report.
However, the US Treasury’s figure greatly exceeded last year’s US$5.3 billion trade surplus based on Ministry of Finance data, the central bank said.
PATENTS: MediaTek Inc said it would not comment on ongoing legal cases, but does not expect the legal action by Huawei to affect its business operations Smartphone integrated chips designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) on Friday said that a lawsuit filed by Chinese smartphone brand Huawei Technologies Co (華為) over alleged patent infringements would have little impact on its operations. In an announcement posted on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, MediaTek said that it would not comment on an ongoing legal case. However, the company said that Huawei’s legal action would have little impact on its operations. MediaTek’s statement came after China-based PRIP Research said on Thursday that Huawei filed a lawsuit with a Chinese district court claiming that MediaTek infringed on its patents. The infringement mentioned in the lawsuit likely involved
Taipei is today suspending work, classes and its US$2.4 trillion stock market as Typhoon Gaemi approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Authorities had yesterday issued a warning that the storm could affect people on land and canceled some ship crossings and domestic flights. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) expects its local chipmaking fabs to maintain normal production, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp said it has activated routine typhoon alert
GROWTH: TSMC increased its projected revenue growth for this year to more than 25 percent, citing stronger-than-expected demand for AI devices and smartphones The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) yesterday raised its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year from 3.29 percent to 3.85 percent, as exports and private investment recovered faster than it predicted three months ago. The Taipei-based think tank also expects that Taiwan would see a 8.19 percent increase in exports this year, better than the 7.55 percent it projected in April, as US technology giants spent more money on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and development. “There will be more AI servers going forward, but it remains to be seen if the momentum would extend to personal computers, smartphones and
Catastrophic computer outages caused by a software update from one company have once again exposed the dangers of global technological dependence on a handful of players, experts said on Friday. A flawed update sent out by the little-known security firm CrowdStrike Holdings Inc brought airlines, TV stations and myriad other aspects of daily life to a standstill. The outages affected companies or individuals that use CrowdStrike on the Microsoft Inc’s Windows platform. When they applied the update, the incompatible software crashed computers into a frozen state known as the “blue screen of death.” “Today CrowdStrike has become a household name, but not in