“Those pose major challenges to achieving fairer and more balanced trade, and we will continue to monitor and review China’s currency practices, including through ongoing discussions with the People’s Bank of China,” Mnuchin said in a statement.
The report offers a bit of a reprieve in the ongoing trade war by concluding that China’s direct intervention by its central bank has been limited. Still, Treasury is critical of Beijing for not pursuing more market-based reforms that could bolster confidence in the renminbi, that has depreciated significantly.
US President Trump has accused China of purposefully devaluing its currency to give its exports a competitive advantage on the world market. The report warns that the recent depreciation of China’s currency will likely widen the economic giant's trade surplus with the US even more.
According to scmp.com, China will remain on a list of countries the US monitors, along with Japan, South Korea, India, Germany and Switzerland.
