Trump Stops Short of Calling China Currency Manipulator Amid North Korea Crisis

US President Donald Trump said Saturday that it is not "the right time" to call China a "currency manipulator," as Beijing might help Washington to resolve the North Korean crisis.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Calling China currency manipulator could wait, as right now Beijing is helping Washington in dealing solving North Korean crisis,  Trump said at a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

"So we have currency manipulation by China, but China is helping us, possibly or probably, with the North Korean situation," Trump said, adding that "now it’s not exactly the right time" to call China a currency manipulator.

China has "tremendous power" over North Korea.

Trump reminded of his recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, which took place on April 6-7, ad stressed that the Chinese leader "is a good man."

"I believe he [President Xi] wants to get that situation taken care of. They have tremendous power [over North Korea], and we’ll see what happens," Trump stated.

The United States has previously accused China of intentionally undervaluing its currency to keep its export-oriented economy competitive in the global market, with the tendency culminating in Trump’s "currency manipulator" accusations during his election campaign. However, lately Trump changed his rhetoric on the currency issue because of Beijing’s readiness to cooperate on the North Korean issue. After media reports emerged alleging that Trump changed his viewpoint on China, the president stressed that he has not softened his stance on the issue.

Over the past few months, North Korea carried out a number of missile launches and nuclear tests which are considered to be in violation with the UN Security Council resolutions.

 

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