Generals, the saying goes, always fight the last war. Chinese exports held up well in 2018 partly thanks to a vertiginous drop in the currency. President Trump and his trade generals want to make sure China doesn’t use the yuan to gain a competitive advantage again, and are asking for guarantees on currency stability as a part of any trade deal with Beijing. The yuan has, in fact, been pretty stable recently, even climbing 3% against the dollar since November—and for reasons that go beyond rising odds of a deal. China is...

Source: Wall Street Journal March 18, 2019 08:48 UTC