US should start manipulating the dollar, Donald Trump says, accusing China and Europe of playing ‘big currency manipulation game’
- Such a move would directly contradict official US policy not to manipulate dollar’s value to gain trade advantages
- Treasury Department earlier found no country meets criteria for being labelled a currency manipulator, but put China and eight other countries on watch list
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday accused China and Europe of playing a “big currency manipulation game” and said the United States should match that effort – a move that directly contradicts official US policy not to manipulate the dollar’s value to gain trade advantages.
In a tweet, the president said that if America did not “match” China and Europe, the country would continue “being the dummies who sit back and politely watch as other countries continue to play their games – as they have for so many years”.
Trump’s own Treasury Department in May found that no country met the criteria of being labelled a currency manipulator, although the report did put China and eight other countries on a watch list.
A country manipulates its currency when it drives down the value to make its exports cheaper and imports more expensive.
As a candidate in 2016, Trump repeatedly charged that China was manipulating its currency and as president he would immediately label China as a currency manipulator.