China lets currency weaken below key level amid growing trade war with U.S.


China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, allowed the yuan to breach the psychologically important rate of 7 to the U.S. dollar on Monday, pushing the Chinese currency to its weakest level in a decade, The New York Times reports. The People's Bank of China, which tightly controls the value of the yuan (or renminbi), cited "unilateralism and trade protectionism measures and the imposition of increased tariffs on China," but said currencies fluctuate and the renminbi is stable.
Worries about the ongoing U.S.-China trade war sent U.S. stock futures plunging early Monday morning. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 300 points, or 1.2 percent, MarketWatch reports. Futures for the Nasdaq and S&P 500 were down 1.7 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively. Last week, President Trump surprised Wall Street by announcing additional 10 percent tariffs on $300 billion of Chinese goods, set to take effect in September.
China's currency news is "fueling concern Beijing might use its currency as a weapon in the tariff war," Fox Business reports.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

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.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Aug. 12 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Tuesday’s political cartoons include ICE youth, the self-serving EPA, Vladimir Putin demanding Alaska back, and Donald Trump with Jeffrey Epstein
-
Nicola Sturgeon's memoir: making the personal political
Talking Point Former Scottish first minister attempts to set record straight in 'Frankly' but does she leave more questions than answers?
-
Trump-Putin: would land swap deal end Ukraine war?
Today's Big Question Ukraine ready to make 'painful but acceptable' territorial concessions – but it still might not be enough for Vladimir Putin
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliable
speed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages
-
Crypto firm Coinbase hacked, faces SEC scrutiny
Speed Read The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers in past disclosures