(Bloomberg) -- The Trump administration is concerned about the Chinese yuan’s depreciation as the Treasury Department weighs whether to name China a currency manipulator in a report due out next week, a senior Treasury official said Monday.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has faced pressure from the White House to formally designate China a currency manipulator in the report. The yuan has tumbled 9 percent against the dollar in the last six months in one of Asia’s worst performances, raising speculation that China has been deliberately weakening its currency as trade tensions with the U.S. have escalated.
The senior official said the U.S. is closely monitoring the Chinese currency and is concerned about the recent depreciation. The official didn’t provide further elaboration.
The official was responding to a question during a briefing ahead of a visit Mnuchin will make this week to Bali, Indonesia, for a meeting of finance minsters and central bankers under the auspices of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. The official briefed reporters under condition of anonymity.
President Donald Trump accused China and the European Union of manipulating their currencies in a July tweet, saying the move are “taking away our big competitive edge.”
China, the European Union and others have been manipulating their currencies and interest rates lower, while the U.S. is raising rates while the dollars gets stronger and stronger with each passing day - taking away our big competitive edge. As usual, not a level playing field...
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 20, 2018