Trump admin. declines to brand China a currency manipulator

The United States has declined to label China a currency manipulator despite President Donald Trump’s insistent pledge during the election campaign that he would do so as soon as he took office. (Photo: Donald J. Trump/Facebook)

WASHINGTON — The United States has declined to label China a currency manipulator despite President ‘s insistent pledge during the election campaign that he would do so as soon as he took office.

Instead, the first currency review of the Trump administration singled out China and five other countries as needing to be monitored for their currency practices. The countries — China, Japan, Germany, South Korea, Taiwan and Switzerland — were the same six named in the last currency report issued by the Obama administration in October.

In an interview Wednesday, Trump had indicated that he was backing away from his campaign pledge because he felt China hadn’t been manipulating its currency in recent months and because labeling it as such now could jeopardize Beijing’s co-operation in confronting North Korea.