The Trump administration has proposed punitive duties on countries that artificially lower their currencies — a sweeping trade policy tool that could be used against US allies as well as adversaries like China.
On Thursday evening, the US Department of Commerce issued a notice of “proposed rulemaking” that would allow the government to slap penalties on countries that “act to undervalue their currency relative to the dollar, resulting in a subsidy to their exports”.
Previous US administrations have been wary of mixing trade and currency, but political pressure from Congress to include currency as a factor in trade discussions has been growing.