Treasury Department designates China a currency manipulator

The trade war between the United States and China escalated further on Monday evening, when the U.S. Treasury Department designated China a currency manipulator after Beijing allowed its currency to slide to its lowest level in a decade.

The People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, said the yuan dropped due to President Trump's "unilateralism and trade protectionism measures and the imposition of increased tariffs on China." On Thursday, Trump said he would impose more tariffs on China, and in response, Chinese enterprises have stopped new purchases of U.S. farm goods, the state-run Xinhua News Agency said.

It's been 25 years since the United States last designated China a currency manipulator. In a statement, the Treasury Department said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin "will engage with the International Monetary Fund to eliminate the unfair competitive advantage created by China's latest actions." It's primarily a symbolic move, The New York Times points out, but China will most likely view this as an aggressive action.

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