US steel industry welcomes China’s designation as currency manipulator

The US Department of Treasury’s move Monday to designate China as a currency manipulator is “welcome news” for the steel industry and overall US manufacturing, according to American Iron and Steel Institute CEO Thomas Gibson.

“China was, and remains, a currency manipulator,” Gibson said in a statement. “The Chinese government’s actions today are just one more instance of its active role in manipulating the value of its currency to promote Chinese exports.”

The US Treasury, at the urging of President Donald Trump, officially named China a currency manipulator in response to the country’s decision to reduce the value of its currency.

“China has a long history of facilitating an undervalued currency through protracted, large-scale intervention in the foreign exchange market,” the Treasury Department said in a statement. “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 AISI and steel industry have long advocated for the US government to take action in regards to currency manipulation.

“We applaud the decisive action today by President Trump and the US government to address the damage, and unfair competitive advantage, that China’s undervalued currency has caused to our nation’s manufacturing sector – especially the steel industry,” Gibson said.
Source: Platts