Australia weighs in on US-China currency row and trade war, calling for ‘cool heads to prevail’
- Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg avoided saying whether the US was right to brand China a currency manipulator
- However, he insisted Australia wants ‘the international rules-based framework to be maintained’
Australia has called on the US and China to negotiate a resolution to their economic conflict, with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg describing the introduction of currencies into the dispute as an “unwanted escalation”.
In a television interview on Wednesday, Frydenberg avoided answering a question on whether the US was right to brand China a currency manipulator.
“It’s not for Australia to say which side is right and which side is wrong,” he said. “What Australia wants is for the international rules-based framework to be maintained.”
Beijing denied it was depreciating its currency, helping stabilise markets. Yet the dispute is moving into territory that lends itself to escalation.
“Australia is calling on cool heads to prevail and obviously for the parties to negotiate a resolution of this dispute,” Frydenberg said, noting one in five Australian jobs relate to trade.
“Certainly the currency move by China and the increase in tariffs by the US is an unwanted escalation.’’