Trump adviser: US unlikely to label China a ‘currency manipulator’

The Trump administration is unlikely to label China a “currency manipulator,” breaking one of the president’s campaign promises, according to a top outside economic adviser.

“I would doubt that would happen,” Stephen Schwarzman, the chairman of Blackstone Group and chair of a presidential advisory board of top business leaders, told Bloomberg Television on Tuesday.

Schwarzman said China was not mentioned when the strategy and policy group held their second meeting on Tuesday. 

By law, the Treasury Department must release currency reports to Congress twice a year on whether major trading partners are unfairly manipulating currencies.

The report, expected this month, will be Treasury’s first currency report of the Trump administration.

Not labeling China a currency manipulator would be a shift for the president.

During the campaign, Trump accused China of manipulating its currency to hurt the U.S in trade. He vowed to label China as a currency manipulator — which has not been done since 1994.

In an October Treasury report last year, five countries including China were placed on a U.S. watch list for possibly engaging in unfair trade practices. The Treasury claimed China had been trying to boost the value of the yuan in exchange markets. 

Trump also reportedly did not mention the issue during his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week.

{mosads}After the meeting of the two world leaders concluded, the White House announced a 100-day timeline to work on the U.S. trade relationship with China.

Democrats are already hammering Trump on his China policy, arguing that he has failed to match his tough campaign rhetoric.

During a Tuesday conference call with reporters, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) called on Trump to put pressure on China for its unfair trade practices and pushed for China to be labeled a currency manipulator. 

Trump has taken a slower approach on many of his trade promises.

On the campaign trail, he pledged to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement and impose tariffs on U.S. companies or foreign countries that move companies or jobs overseas.

But since he took office, the administration has sent conflicting signs on how it will handle NAFTA.

“For far too long, China taken us to the cleaners as far as the economy,” Schumer said. “I can’t think of a single job they have saved by a single action against China.”

Tags Chuck Schumer

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