US President Donald Trump on Wednesday backed away from his campaign rhetoric and said his administration would not label China a currency manipulator.
This comes a week after his first face-to-face meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump maintained his position that the US dollar was “getting too strong" and that this would eventually hurt the US economy.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Trump also said he would like to see US interest rates stay low.
The US Treasury is due to file its semi-annual report on currency practices of major trading partners at the end of this week. Experts told Reuters last week the report would not likely use the manipulator label on China.
File photo of US President Donald Trump at a meeting. /CFP Photo
The Wall Street Journal said Trump’s change of heart came because “China has not been manipulating its yuan for months.” The newspaper also said Trump did not want to jeopardize talks with Beijing on confronting the threat from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
A US Treasury spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment on Trump’s comments and on the currency report.
The United States last branded China a currency manipulator in 1994.
Trump also said he respected Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and said she was “not toast” when her current term ends in 2018.
This also marks a turnaround from his frequent criticism of Yellen during his campaign, when he said she was keeping interest rates too low. At other times, however, Trump had said that low rates were good because higher rates would strengthen the dollar and hurt American exports and manufacturers.
“I think our dollar is getting too strong, and partially that’s my fault because people have confidence in me. But that’s hurting – that will hurt ultimately,” Trump said on Wednesday.
“It’s very, very hard to compete when you have a strong dollar and other countries are devaluing their currency,” Trump told the Journal.
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