When Did China Stop Manipulating Currency?

Image result for us china trade deal phase 1

On January 13, 2020, the US Treasury Department de-listed the People's Republic of China as a currency manipulator. It is worth our while pausing a bit over this.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-china/u-s-treasury-removes-designation-of-china-as-currency-manipulator-idUSKBN1ZC2FV

There are three obvious questions that come to mind:

1) why does the Treasury maintain a list of currency manipulators?
2) why was the PRC on the list?
3) why is the PRC now off the list?

The most consequential currency manipulation on the planet of course is that of the United States, arranged jointly by the Treasury and the Federal Reserve. The US dollar continues to serve, through a sort of institutional inertia, as the world's currency OF currencies. And plainly its value IS manipulated for a range of political purposes.

But just as plainly the US doesn't want other countries challenging it for the title of master manipulator. And China, which aspired to have its yuan regarded as the dollar's equal (at least) in benchmarking, is an obvious subject of concern.

That should answer questions (1) and (2) well enough for now. What about (3)?

The PRC is now off the list because President Trump badly wanted credit for at least a "Trade 1" trade deal with that country. His usual trick is to generate conflict, cause a crisis, then back off from that conflict and take credit for easing that crisis. He has played by this rulebook on US/China trade. Now he has a "Phase 1" which does NOT resolve any real issues but gets the trade relations back to roughly where they were before he started the "war."

That's the why of the delisting.

It is worth noting that the least plausible reading of any of this possible would be taking seriously the notion that (1) China used to manipulate its currency and (2) it no longer does so, for which (3) the US Treasury, of all institutions, has now patted them on the back.

No.

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