On Thursday, President Donald Trump called on the Federal Reserve to take steps to weaken the U.S. dollar in a move that would make American exports more competitive in world markets while increasing prices on imported goods.
Trump wrote in a series of tweets, “As your President, one would think that I would be thrilled with our very strong dollar. I am not! The Fed’s high interest rate level, in comparison to other countries, is keeping the dollar high, making it more difficult for our great manufacturers like Caterpillar, Boeing … John Deere, our car companies, & others, to compete on a level playing field.”
All of this comes just days after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin formally declared China to be a “currency manipulator” under U.S. law because the People’s Bank of China let the yuan weaken beyond 7 to the dollar for the first time in over a decade.
