America’s Asia Allies May Face Biggest Currency Reversal
- South Korea’s won, Taiwan’s dollar have enjoyed gains in 2017
- One buyer says ‘I am careful’ given risk of Trump targeting
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Asia’s top two performing currencies so far this year are unlikely to enjoy prolonged gains, with the new U.S. administration’s increasing turn toward protectionism set to hit the economies of South Korea and Taiwan.
Rhetoric from U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration blasting the alleged manipulation of exchange rates abroad has helped Taiwan’s dollar and the South Korean won advance 4.3 percent and 6.1 percent against the dollar since the year started. The thinking: these two open-market U.S. allies would scale back intervention aimed at slowing gains in their currencies.