Trump abandons China “currency manipulation” promise

Donald Trump announced on January 14 his abandonment of a central campaign pledge about China.

On October 22, he promised that on his first day in office he would instruct his Secretary of the Treasury “to label China a currency manipulator.”

On January 14, he said of that promise in an interview with the Wall St Journal that “I would talk to them first,” later adding: “Certainly, they are manipulators. But I’m not looking to do that.”

His nominee as Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, has repeatedly made it clear he has doubts about Trump’s “currency manipulation” strategy, though he appears as determined as everyone else around Trump to deal with China’s particular definition of of free trade.

But this is the first of his campaign promises Trump has explicitly announced he will abandon.