The United States is monitoring the recent weakness in China’s yuan currency and will review whether the currency has been manipulated, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Reuters.
Asked whether he was concerned that China may be using its currency as a weapon in an escalating trade fight with the United States, Mnuchin said: “I’m not saying whether it’s a weapon or not a weapon. There’s no question that the weakening of the currency creates an unfair advantage for them.”
“We’re going to very carefully review whether they have manipulated the currency.”
Mnuchin’s comments came just after President Donald Trump accused China and the European Union of manipulating their currencies in a tweet on Friday, adding that this is “taking away our big competitive edge.”
Trump also repeated his complaints that Fed interest rate hikes were causing the dollar to rise and said he was ready to impose U.S. tariffs on all $500 billion of imported goods from China.