China Is Not a Currency Manipulator?

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By Trey Thoelcke Published
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Once again, the Treasury Department has elected not to label China as a currency manipulator. Many economists and politicians believe that action is absurd because the People’s Republic clearly controls the value of the yuan, which gives China an advantage in trade with other nations.

The Treasury Department’s “Report to Congress on International Economic and Exchange Rate Policies” states:

Chinese authorities have acknowledged the need for continued exchange rate reform and have taken a number of steps in this direction. In April 2012, China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), announced a widening of the RMB daily trading band against the dollar in the Mainland currency market, from ± 0.5 percent to ± 1.0 percent. The trading band limitation applies to intra-day movements of the RMB against the dollar. In making the announcement, the PBOC stated that it was widening the band “in order to meet market demands, promote price discovery, enhance the flexibility of RMB exchange rate in both directions, [and] further improve the managed floating RMB exchange rate regime based on market supply and demand with reference to a basket of currencies.” Further widening of the band over time, if implemented in a way that allows the value of the exchange rate to better reflect market forces, would be positive for China, the United States, and the global economy.

Manufacturing associations and some politicians already have attacked the report as they claim that U.S. jobs continue to move to China because of its advantages in trade that hurt U.S. competitiveness, particularly when it comes to the cost of operating factories.

Douglas A. McIntyre

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About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.

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