Trump backtracks on calling China ‘currency manipulator’
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that his administration will not label China a currency manipulator, backing away from a campaign promise, even as he said the US dollar was “getting too strong” and would eventually hurt the economy.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Trump also said he would like to see US interest rates stay low, another comment at odds with what he had often said during the election campaign.
A US Treasury spokesman confirmed that the Treasury Department’s semi-annual report on currency practices of major trading partners, due out later this week, will not name China a currency manipulator. Trump’s comments broke with a long-standing practice of both US Democratic and Republican administrations of refraining from commenting on policy set by the independent Federal Reserve.
It is also highly unusual for a president to address the dollar’s value, which is a subject usually left to the US Treasury Secretary. “They’re not currency manipulators,” Trump told the Journal about China.
The statement is an about-face from Trump’s election campaign promises to slap that label on Beijing on the first day of his administration as part of his plan to reduce Chinese imports into the United States. Trump also told the Journal that he respected Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and said she was “not toast” when her current term ends in 2018. That was also a turnaround from his frequent criticism of Yellen during his campaign, when he said she was keeping interest rates too low.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Trump also said he would like to see US interest rates stay low, another comment at odds with what he had often said during the election campaign.
A US Treasury spokesman confirmed that the Treasury Department’s semi-annual report on currency practices of major trading partners, due out later this week, will not name China a currency manipulator. Trump’s comments broke with a long-standing practice of both US Democratic and Republican administrations of refraining from commenting on policy set by the independent Federal Reserve.
It is also highly unusual for a president to address the dollar’s value, which is a subject usually left to the US Treasury Secretary. “They’re not currency manipulators,” Trump told the Journal about China.
The statement is an about-face from Trump’s election campaign promises to slap that label on Beijing on the first day of his administration as part of his plan to reduce Chinese imports into the United States. Trump also told the Journal that he respected Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and said she was “not toast” when her current term ends in 2018. That was also a turnaround from his frequent criticism of Yellen during his campaign, when he said she was keeping interest rates too low.
