Treasury Designates China as a Currency Manipulator
August 5, 2019
Washington – The Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 requires the Secretary of the Treasury to analyze the exchange rate policies of other countries. Under Section 3004 of the Act, the Secretary must "consider whether countries manipulate the rate of exchange between their currency and the United States dollar for purposes of preventing effective balance of payments adjustments or gaining unfair competitive advantage in international trade.” Secretary Mnuchin, under the auspices of President Trump, has today determined that China is a Currency Manipulator.
As a result of this determination, Secretary Mnuchin will engage with the International Monetary Fund to eliminate the unfair competitive advantage created by China’s latest actions.
As noted in the most recent Report to Congress on the Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the United States (“FX Report”), China has a long history of facilitating an undervalued currency through protracted, large-scale intervention in the foreign exchange market. In recent days, China has taken concrete steps to devalue its currency, while maintaining substantial foreign exchange reserves despite active use of such tools in the past. The context of these actions and the implausibility of China’s market stability rationale confirm that the purpose of China’s currency devaluation is to gain an unfair competitive advantage in international trade.
The Chinese authorities have acknowledged that they have ample control over the RMB exchange rate. In a statement today, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) noted that it “has accumulated rich experience and policy tools, and will continue to innovate and enrich the control toolbox, and take necessary and targeted measures against the positive feedback behavior that may occur in the foreign exchange market.” This is an open acknowledgement by the PBOC that it has extensive experience manipulating its currency and remains prepared to do so on an ongoing basis.
This pattern of actions is also a violation of China’s G20 commitments to refrain from competitive devaluation. As highlighted in the FX Report, Treasury places significant importance on China adhering to its G-20 commitments to refrain from engaging in competitive devaluation and to not target China’s exchange rate for competitive purposes. Treasury continues to urge China to enhance the transparency of China’s exchange rate and reserve management operations and goals.
source: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm751
extended readings:
US Treasury labels China a currency manipulator
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https://www.ft.com/content/9d24c1ca-b7cd-11e9-96bd-8e884d3ea203
US Treasury declines to label China a currency manipulator
Sam Fleming in Washington MAY 29, 2019
https://www.ft.com/content/9c7530da-8194-11e9-b592-5fe435b57a3b
U.S. Labels China a Currency Manipulator, Escalating Trade War
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-05/u-s-treasury-department-labels-china-a-currency-manipulator
U.S. Treasury Declines to Name China Currency Manipulator
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-11-27/u-s-treasury-declines-to-name-china-currency-manipulator
US Treasury declines to name China as currency manipulator
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2014-10/16/content_18746168.htm
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https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/05/us-treasury-designates-china-as-a-currency-manipulator.html
references:
对于政府贸易政策公文相关的阅读材料，一是注意其中的关键词汇，二是注意词汇的正式性，比如本文及关联阅读中的designate、label、name、declare
under the auspices of somebody/something
formal with the help and support of a particular organization or person
negotiations held under the auspices of the United Nations
engage with somebody/something
formal to get involved with other people and their ideas in order to understand them
Are you so tired you don’t have the energy to engage with your kids?
in ... Report to Congress on ... Policies of
正常的顺序应当是 in report on policies of ... which has been submitted to congress，但会造成report的修饰语过长从而结构稳，因而将to congress前移至report之后
implausible: difficult to believe and therefore unlikely to be true
implausible theory/idea/explanation etc
competitive advantage: 注意动词的搭配，eliminate、gain和create
Notes:
几小时前，美国财政部正式发布公文，将中国列为汇率操纵国。这个操作实际被推迟了很久才真正执行，但其执行后的后果恐怕在目前而言，普通人尤其是WTO后的代际是无法预想和体会的。
华尔街日报、英国BBC、纽约时报等国际主流媒体均已报导此事件
2019年8月6日11:15 CST 更新
https://cn.wsj.com/articles/美国财政部将中国列为汇率操纵国-11565048407
中美贸易战：人民币“破七”后，美国25年来首次把中国列为汇率操纵国
1小时前
https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/world-49239585
美国将中国列为汇率操纵国，贸易战再度升级
https://cn.nytimes.com/business/20190806/us-china-yuan-renminbi-trump/