A yearlong U.S.-China trade war boiled over on Monday as Washington accused Beijing of manipulating its currency after China let the yuan drop to its lowest point in more than a decade.
The U.S. Treasury Department announced late on Monday that it had determined for the first time since 1994 that China was manipulating its currency, knocking the U.S. dollar sharply lower and sending gold prices to a six-year high.
The designation by U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin starts a formal process of bilateral negotiations between the world’s two largest economies, and fulfills a promise made by U.S. President Donald Trump on his first day in office.
