President Trump accused China and Russia Monday of devaluing their currencies against the U.S. dollar, three days after the Treasury Department declined to label China a currency manipulator.
“Russia and China are playing the Currency Devaluation game as the U.S. keeps raising interest rates. Not acceptable,” the president tweeted.
The president is pressuring China with the threat of tariffs to fix Beijing’s unfair trade practices. He said repeatedly during the 2016 campaign that he would call out China as a currency manipulator.
But on Friday, the Treasury Department issued a semiannual report that did not find China was devaluing its currency, called the renminbi.
Treasury’s report is the third straight under Mr. Trump to avoid labeling China a currency manipulator.
The report did assert that China is not doing enough to balance its trade surplus with the U.S. Treasury did not address Russia’s economy in depth.
Facing U.S. tariffs on steel, aluminum and high-tech products, China has promised to fight back with its own tariffs on U.S. goods, including a long list of farm products.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.