Trump is only getting more confused about the yuan

The president's currency policy is in free fall

President Trump.
(Image credit: Illustrated | alfexe/iStock, Alex Wong/Getty Images)

When it comes to the Chinese yuan, President Trump just seems to get more and more confused.

You may recall that during the 2016 campaign, Trump accused China of currency manipulation. He wasn't wrong then. The Chinese government does deliberately keep the yuan undervalued relative to the U.S. dollar, making their exports cheaper and widening America's trade deficit with China. But once Trump entered office and commenced his trade war, he dropped the subject of China's currency policy. Instead, he focused on changing China's rules around market access, investment, technology transfer, and intellectual property.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Jeff Spross

Jeff Spross was the economics and business correspondent at TheWeek.com. He was previously a reporter at ThinkProgress.