WASHINGTON – The Trump administration is dropping its designation of China as a currency manipulator in advance of the signing Wednesday of a Phase 1 U.S.-China trade agreement. ADVERTISEMENTThe action announced Monday comes five months after the Trump administration had branded China a currency manipulator — the first time that any country had been so named since 1994 during the Clinton administration. “China is a currency manipulator — that is a fact,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader in the Senate. The new report is technically three months late, apparently because the Trump administration had delayed its release until it had achieved the currency Phase 1 commitments from China. Trump had long accused China of manipulating its currency, even though most independent experts concluded that Beijing had stopped doing so years ago.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer January 13, 2020 22:41 UTC