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The Taiwan greenback’s fast appreciation within the second quarter led to hypothesis of a “Plaza Accord 2.0” — a coordinated effort to weaken the US greenback — echoing the historic 1985 settlement amongst G5 nations. The unique Plaza Accord was designed to handle giant US commerce deficits by engineering a managed depreciation of the greenback via joint foreign money intervention. It marked a uncommon and highly effective instance of worldwide foreign money coordination.
Any new Plaza-style settlement at this time would face far higher monetary and geopolitical hurdles than it did 40 years in the past. Certainly, if US policymakers search to stimulate home manufacturing by depreciating the greenback, they need to additionally account for the rising prices and dangers related to world commerce, capital flows, and market stability.
This submit examines the potential penalties of a coordinated greenback depreciation at this time — from FX volatility and insurance coverage threat to broader macroeconomic impacts.
A Weaker Greenback May Heighten International FX Volatility
A weaker US greenback may have a dramatic impact on the FX market and, particularly, on Taiwanese life insurance coverage corporations. A January 2025 FT article identified that these corporations maintain belongings equal to 140% of Taiwan’s GDP. A considerable portion of those holdings are in US-dollar-denominated bonds solely partially hedged for FX volatility.
Taiwan has loved widening present account surpluses due largely to sturdy demand for its semiconductors. To handle the ensuing FX reserve progress and to take care of FX stability, the native financial authority permitted life insurance coverage corporations to swap their Taiwan {dollars} for US {dollars} within the FX reserve. The insurers then swapped USD to purchase US fixed-income belongings to fulfill future (insurance coverage coverage) obligations.
Regardless of shifting the majority of their portfolio belongings to US {dollars}, a lot of the insurance coverage insurance policies (agency liabilities) stay denominated in native foreign money. The end result can be a major foreign money mismatch the place sharp declines within the US greenback would cut back the worth of US-dollar-denominated bonds equivalent to US Treasuries held by Taiwanese insurance coverage corporations, leaving the insurance coverage corporations with inadequate belongings to match their liabilities.
The unique Plaza Accord signed by the G-5 international locations in 1985 was agreed upon underneath the backdrop of a comparatively benign macro atmosphere. A hypothetical “Plaza Accord 2.0” to depreciate the US greenback would doubtless enhance strain on Taiwan’s insurers and their risk-management efforts. This vicious cycle would exacerbate strain and enlarge FX market volatility.
Taiwanese insurance coverage corporations are additionally uncovered to period dangers. The US greenback bonds held by Taiwanese insurance coverage corporations are longer-duration (with higher rate of interest sensitivity than short-maturity debt). Gross sales of those belongings would doubtless elevate long-term US rates of interest and transmit rate of interest volatility throughout markets.
Taiwanese insurers will not be alone of their publicity to this kind of threat. Related carry-trade flows (promote native foreign money, purchase US greenback and dollar-denominated belongings) with the Japanese yen within the third quarter of 2024 triggered a brief-but-disruptive volatility surge throughout main asset markets.
The US Commerce Deficit’s Hidden Function
A “Plaza Accord 2.0” coming 40 years after the unique accord would wish to account for the US commerce deficit as a part of a round foreign money stream to fund the US authorities. In 1985, the US deficit was at $211.9 billion. By 2024 it had risen to $1.8 trillion. Equally, the US debt ballooned from $1.8 trillion in 1985 to $36.2 trillion within the second quarter this 12 months. Non-US exporters reinvesting commerce surplus {dollars} in US Treasuries (lending surplus {dollars} again to the US authorities) are a key supply of liquidity within the US bond market:
Beneath the current paradigm, a decrease US commerce deficit would doubtless disrupt the reinvestment of exporter greenback commerce surpluses, which may cut back international demand at US Treasury auctions and negatively have an effect on secondary market liquidity situations.
“Plaza Accord 2.0’s” Nuanced Impression On a Leaner US Manufacturing Sector
The US manufacturing sector has advanced considerably over the previous 40 years. In keeping with BEA knowledgethe US manufacturing sector’s share of nominal GDP fell to 9.9% in 4Q 2024 from 18.5% in 1985.The whole variety of staff within the manufacturing sector additionally declined. In April 1985, manufacturing workers as a share of whole non-farm payrolls was 18.4%. By April 2025, that quantity had dropped to eight.0%. The discount in manufacturing headcount (with improved productiveness, till beneficial properties started to stagnate within the late 2000s) implies US manufacturing had turn into extra environment friendly between 1987 and 2007:
Thus, a modified manufacturing business with comparatively smaller payrolls now than in 1985 would doubtless profit otherwise from impacts of Plaza fashion accords than 4 a long time in the past, when extra households have been straight taking part within the business.
Assessing the Threat Reward of “Plaza Accord 2.0”
Research on the impression of the unique Plaza Accord concluded that trade charge shifts finally led to modifications in commerce balances with a lag of two years. The same lag would doubtless apply at this time, elevating questions on whether or not a brand new Plaza-style intervention may meaningfully assist US manufacturing — now a leaner, smaller share of GDP — with out triggering broader monetary disruptions. In comparison with 1985, at this time’s world system is extra interconnected and extra reliant on the greenback, notably via international holdings of US debt. Any coordinated effort to weaken the greenback would wish to steadiness potential industrial beneficial properties in opposition to dangers to FX stability, institutional asset-liability mismatches, and the functioning of US debt markets. The associated fee-benefit equation for “Plaza Accord 2.0” is way extra complicated than it was 4 a long time in the past.
Requires a “Plaza Accord 2.0” replicate rising concern over US commerce imbalances and industrial competitiveness. However not like in 1985, the worldwide economic system at this time is extra complicated, with deeper interdependencies and extra fragile monetary linkages. A brand new Plaza-style settlement would carry unintended penalties — from FX volatility and insurance-sector threat in Asia to disruptions in US debt financing and financial coverage transmission.
Beneath the unique Plaza Accord, foreign money shifts took years to affect commerce balances, underscoring the lag between intervention and impression. Policymakers should subsequently assess whether or not the advantages to a leaner US manufacturing base would outweigh the dangers to world markets, institutional stability, and US fiscal operations. On this atmosphere, the risk-reward calculus of foreign money coordination appears much more difficult than it did 40 years in the past.
