Germany Posts Record Current-Account Surplus Amid U.S. Concern

The current-account gap climbed to 30.4 billion euros ($34.6 billion) in March, up from 21.1 billion euros the previous month, data from the Federal Statistics Office showed on Tuesday. The nation's trade surplus, a narrower measure that only counts imports and exports of goods and services, widened to 26 billion euros, also a record.

The U.S. put Germany, China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan on a new currency watchlist on April 29, saying their foreign-exchange practices bear close monitoring to gauge whether they provide an unfair trade advantage over America. The economies met two of the three criteria used to judge unfair practices under a February law that seeks to enforce U.S. trade interests. Meeting all three would trigger action by the president to enter discussions and seek potential penalties, including being cut off from some U.S. development financing and exclusion from U.S. government contracts.