Taiwan's central bank is trying to reassure the stability of the currency after the New Taiwan dollar surged at the fastest pace in decades. Central bank governor Yang Chin-long also said the country is not under pressure from the U.S. to let its currency appreciate amid tariff negotiations in Washington.
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00:00From the presidential office to here at the central bank, Taiwan's government officials are reassuring the public that the country's currency, the new Taiwan dollar, will remain stable following recent rapid changes in the exchange rate.
00:12Importantly, they also sought to clarify that they are not under pressure from the U.S. to let the Taiwan dollar appreciate.
00:30They are not under pressure from the U.S. to the U.S. to the U.S. to the U.S. to the U.S. dollar by more than 6 percent since Friday, the largest rise in decades.
00:47That can be pretty hard on an economy like Taiwan's that is highly dependent on exports.
00:51The central bank is being watched very closely right now because, of course, local exporters want the currency's value to stay low.
00:58But the Taiwan government is in the middle of trade negotiations with the U.S., and one of Donald Trump's longstanding criticisms of U.S. trading partners is that they manipulate their currency to keep their exports cheap, which Trump says is unfair.
01:11And in fact, Taiwan has been on the so-called monitoring list of the U.S. Treasury for years.
01:16Those are countries at risk of being officially labeled a currency manipulator, and the Treasury is expected to release its latest report on such practices very soon.
01:24Taiwanese officials definitely do not want to be labeled a currency manipulator in the middle of their negotiations with the U.S., and the central bank governor denied that they manipulate the currency at today's conference.
01:35That's why the central bank is being watched so closely and will continue to be watched closely until a deal is made.
01:41Now, I've been speaking to economists today about how the exchange rate might affect Taiwan's economy, and I began by asking them which industries will be the hardest hit.
01:50With the sharp appreciation in such a short time, of course, create a huge pressure for company export into the U.S.
02:00And especially, I think the pressure will be huge, especially for companies with a narrow profit margin.
02:12For the high-tech company, I think the shock will be limited.
02:16But for the traditional industry, I think the shock will be quite dramatic.
02:21So it seems it's the smaller industries in Taiwan, not its larger electronics exporters, that may be hurt the most from this.
02:30Luffy Lee, Hank Xu, and Chris Gorin in Taipei for Taiwan Plus.